


The Crimson Flare

by RiniYukima



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Albus Dumbledore Bashing, Alchemist/witch Carmilla, Gen, Kimblee is his own warning, Protective Greed, Weasley Bashing (save for twins)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:19:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 39,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23924500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiniYukima/pseuds/RiniYukima
Summary: Carmilla is done with Wizards. In her first year, a teacher tried to kill her; a three-headed dog wanted to eat her, and a dangerous stone. Now in her second year, it's whiplash love/hate because she can apparently talk to snakes, a possessed diary, and a basilisk (once again nearly being eaten)?Oh. Hell. No.No more.So, instead of returning to the Dursleys for another Summer of Pain, she instead makes a pitstop to Gringotts, makes the goblins smile, and has secrets revealed."What the hell do you mean that James isn't my father?!"
Comments: 53
Kudos: 168





	1. Prologue

**Quick note, to explain how this world is set up, cause I've had a dimensional travel/time difference story that wasn't very clear before.**

**This takes place more in Brotherhood than the 2003 anime but has elements from both. Kimblee has 2003's look, but Brotherhood's personality, for instance.**

**Lily's mother's family is originally from Amestris, but they suspected something was wrong and left about two hundred years before the main storyline Fullmetal Alchemist.**

**Making a deal with Truth in exchange for a Philosopher's stone they got from Hohenheim, who gave it to them so they could escape Dwarf's clutches as one had caught his interest, they fled into to Earth as the Gate, like in the 03 anime, is connected to other realities.**

**Time in the Fullmetal world is a ratio that I am not sure about how to explain.**

**Think like the time chamber from Dragon Ball Z, one year in the Fullmetal world is two months in the Harry Potter world.**

**This is important. Carmilla leaves the Harry Potter world just after her second year ends, and is pulled back during the Tournament.**

**So while she's been 'missing' two years to the wizards, she's been in the Fullmetal world for roughly (and please check my math if you want as it isn't my strong suit) twelve years.**

**She and Ed are the same age. No, They aren't the pairing (I think, not sure, we'll see).**

**DO NOT COUNT ON KIMBLEE BEING CANNON.**

**I will _try_ to make him as cannon as possible, but he is one of the most daunting characters I have ever tried to write, and please bear with me on his behavior. **

**That is not to say that his relationship is going to be sunshine and rainbows, hell no, they are both damaged people. He's a psychopathic philosopher; she's a hurt, abused teen who, while is a little amoral like her father, is extremely distrustful of human adults since they've never helped her in her life.**

**She may be desperate to escape both the Dursley's abuse and the idiotic wizards, but she isn't just going to trust her father. As far as she's concerned, Kimblee could be just as bad, but she's willing to take that risk.**

**This is, of course, a fanfiction, and liberties taken with the characters are for the story itself.**

**Please enjoy**

* * *

Carmilla Potter tuned out the sounds of her 'best friends' arguing. Ron had said something or other about "books being stupid," which set Hermione off. 

Carmilla didn't care either way, as she had begun to notice things about her so-called friends that made her gut clench, things that she hadn't seen in her first year because she'd been too amazed that magic was real and that she was a witch.

Before she realized she'd really just traded one cage for another.

Sure, the Wizarding World was a fancy, gilded cage, but she hated that it was still holding her prisoner.

Back to her 'friends', she observed that Ron would change the subject if Carmilla tried asking about purebloods, as she was curious as to _why_ they thought the way they did, or if she decided to study more than he did.

Hermione would 'check' her work, saying she was just looking out for her, but she never offered the same to Ron, and Ron never asked.

If Carmilla didn't know better, she'd almost say it was like the two were trying to sabotage her.

She didn't like that idea and wanted to ignore it. 

Didn't change the fact that it was on repeat in her mind.

But what really made Carmilla's guts twist into a gordian knot, was when Dobby, a house-elf she tricked Lucius Malfoy into freeing, mentioned that her friends met with the headmaster weekly on Fridays.

Why they were meeting with him, she didn't know, and by the time Dobby warned her and bound himself to her because he wanted to help her if he could, it was time to board the express and return to the Dursleys.

Standing up and stretching, stopping the argument in the process, she looked to her friends.

"I'm going to the bathroom; the final feast seems like it isn't settling well." She told them when Hermione asked where she was going.

"I'll come with you," the bushy-haired girl said, starting to get up only to be stoped by Carmilla.

"No, I'll be fine. Besides, do you really want to come along if I'm going to throw up? I doubt it."

The Girl-Who-Lived grunted, nearly slamming the compartment door shut in her anger.

It was situations like this that made her suspicious.

Heading to the bathroom, and walking right past it, she entered the storage car and hissed.

"Dobby!"

A soft pop sounded as the elf appeared, bouncing in his glee.

"Yes, Mistress Potter? Whats can Dobby be doing for yous?" Dobby's large eyes nearly popped out of his skull in his joy, happy to serve her.

"One, just call me Carmilla, you're not a slave, if you must call me by an honorific, Miss Carmilla will do," She began as she sat on a crate, smiling at the elf who nodded.

"Yes, Miss Carmilla!"

"Two, can you help me sneak past my 'relatives'? I want to go to Gringotts because I have a horrible feeling that someone is trying to pull the wool over my eyes. I don't like that." Carmilla requested, rage flashing in her neon green eyes.

Dobby scowled at her statement, thin lips turning thinner as he processed her words before a bright smile overtook his face.

"Yes, I can, Miss Carmilla! Withs House-elf magic, nones will be awares that yous be right before them! I's can take you straight to Gringotts with my magic!"

This made her smile widely, showing off her sharp k9s, as she almost giggled in glee.

"Thank you, Dobby, truly, you've always had my back, haven't you?"

"Yes, I's have! I will always have you're back, Miss!" Dobby declared, his chest puffed out in his pride.

"Thank you, Dobby; now, I have to return to the others, stay out of sight. No one can know you serve the Potters now."

With another pop, Dobby disappeared, and Carmilla made her way back to her compartment.

Waving off her friends' concerned glanced, she curled up in her seat, planing to sleep the rest of the ride.

* * *

After saying goodbye to her friends, she followed the Dursley's out of the station, ignoring Vernon's glare, before pausing at their car.

"What are you doing Girl!" Vernon growled, his face beginning to turn a nasty shade of purple when she looked up at him.

"How'd you like to be free of me, possibly forever?" She asked softly, nearly inaudible out of fear of being hit.

Petunia and Vernon's faces warped from anger to confusion, looking to each other before looking back to Carmilla.

"What do you mean, Freak?" her aunt hissed, her eyes promising pain.

Taking a calming breath to slow her racing heart, she motioned for them to get into the car.

Once they were in, the Dursley's turned to her, about to demand answers.

"What did you mean?" Vernon grunted, eyeing her carefully.

"I mean, that if you just drive me three blocks down from here, well enough out of sight, and let me out, I intend to find other lodgings, Sir." She told the man, being careful not to grit her teeth.

She'd love nothing more than to stab a knife into his skull, for all the beatings he'd given her over the years, but diplomacy worked better than anger.

Vernon glared at her, believing it to be a trick.

"And hows that?"

"Do you really care? If I'm gone, you never have to worry about me tainting your family again, Sir." Carmilla said pleasantly, making him turn thoughtful.

"Fine,"

"But Vernon,"

"No, Pet, they can't force her on us if she leaves willingly," Vernon said, suddenly cheerful in a way that reminded her of the letter fiasco over a year ago.

Suppressing a shudder as Vernon started the car, she watched the world fly by out the window until they stopped with a jerk.

"Get out," Vernon rumbled, jerking his head at her as she quickly complied.

"If I ever see you again, I will beat you within an inch of your life, Freak," he warned as he tossed her trunk onto the sidewalk.

"Believe me, Sir, I know when I'm not wanted," Carmilla assured, waving goodbye as the whale got back in the car and sped off.

Once they were out of sight, she put her hand down and whispered for Dobby, who appeared and gently took her hand in his.

"Shall we's be off?"

"Yes, let's go." 


	2. Gringotts part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have read my other story Hikari Dreyar, you'll notice that Carmilla has many of the same blocks on her, I did this on purpose to save time.

Walking into Gringotts, Carmilla quickly raised her hood to prevent the wizards around her from recognizing her. Dobby having warned her that the spell he placed on her would fade the moment she passed the threshold.

Approaching a teller, she waited patiently for the goblin to notice her, not at all bothered that the goblin was ignoring her.

She'd observed that they did this to annoy wizards for shits and giggles, not that she blamed them. If people treated her the way most wizards treated other races, she'd rib them every chance she got too.

Ten minutes later, the goblin raised his head, brows quirked at the witch before him, and the long line behind her.

"Can I help you?" the goblin barked; usually wizards were seething at this point, the ones behind the girl indeed were.

"Yes, please, I'm sorry to take time from your busy day, but I'm afraid that I require a great deal of help from the nation, Master Teller. But I need to speak in privacy, as I fear someone intends me harm." the witch whispered, leaning up towards him as far as she could.

The teller stared at her a moment longer until the child moved her hood just enough for her scarred brow to be visible.

Schooling his expression at realizing who she was, he gave a sharp nod and barked out for a runner to take her to conference room 2.

"If you would follow Tai-Lon, Miss." The teller waved to the goblin, who motioned for her.

"Thank you, may you have a pleasant day, Sir." the child bowed, quickly following Tai-Lon.

Entering the conference room, she looked to her guide, who sat at the table.

"If you would please explain why you seek the nation's aid, Miss?" the goblin requested as she sat across from him.

"Carmilla Potter, I am afraid that someone may be keeping me from much, as while I am famous for the magical world, I entered Hogwarts with the same knowledge as a mundane-born. I also seek aid to escape my abusive family who I was able to trick into letting me leave," she explained as she removed her hood.

Tai-Lon's eyes widened this, cursing in Gobbledegook, before starting.

"I must retrieve the Potter account manager, as this is above my station, Lady Potter. If you are who you say." the goblin informed her, causing her to raise a brow.

"What must I do to prove my claim, Sir?" 

"The Potter account manager will take care of that if you will excuse me."

"Take your time, I know that I am intruding on Gringotts' time," Carmilla assured, giving a small smile as the goblin left, her face falling as soon as the door closed.

'Damn it, I knew that this would be troublesome, but his face tells me that I just stepped into something fowl.' she cursed in her mind as she rested her thumbs on her temples, leaning on the table.

Fifteen minutes later, another goblin entered, face covered in nasty looking scars she assumed came from battle as she glanced to him, his beady eyes holding a weariness she'd seen in a neighbor who'd seen war. 

"Hello, I am Ironfang, the Potter account manager," the goblin greeted, placing a bowl on the table with a sharp knife. Gazing into the bowl, she saw it was filled with a cloudy liquid, a potion of some sort.

"Hello Sir, I must admit I don't quite follow, I thought that Vault 713 was all I had?" she asked, tilting her head and resisting the urge to jump out of her chair at the growls emanating from the goblin.

"That is your trust vault, for school, are you telling me that you know nothing?"

"I believe it may be wisest for me to list what I _do_ know, Sir." Carmilla sighed, feeling an oncoming headache.

"First, let us prove that you are indeed Carmilla Potter and not some harlot." the male demand, pointing to the potion.

"Take the dagger and prick your finger, three drops will suffice to prove who you are."

"How?" she asked curiously, tilting her head.

"The potion is called the Inheritance Test, for simplicity, it uses your blood to reveal your name and the name of your closest relatives, magical abilities, and if spells/potions have been placed. If you wish for it to be more detailed, then add more blood. Three drops will allow for your name and the names of your parents to appear." Ironfang informed, making her nod and take the dagger.

Slicing her palm, she let a good amount of her blood drip into the potion, making it glow for a few moments before Ironfang dipped a roll of parchment into it, the scroll absorbing the potion.

Rolling the parchment out on the table, the goblin read it before handing it to Carmilla.

"You are heiress Potter, though it seems that you hold many secrets." 

Carmilla raised a brow, reading the scroll, and she felt her blood freeze.

Inheritance Test

Location: Gringotts Bank, Diagon Alley, London England

Date: June 23, 1993

Name of Subject: Carmilla Vermilion Potter

Birth: July 31, 1980, Saint Mungo's Hospital, England

Father: Zolf J Kimblee, The Crimson Lotus Alchemist, blood father

Father: James Charles Potter, adoption/step-father, declared heir by magic

Mother: Lillian "Lilly" Ann Evan-Potter

Age: 12

Height: 4'11

Weight: 75

Hair Color: Black

Eye Color: Green (glamor), dichromatic gold (left eye) and green (right eye)

**Abilities of Carmilla Vermilion Potter**

Wandless magic (blocked 100%)

Parsel magic (blocked 90%)

Mind magics (blocked 95%)

Healing magic (blocked 100%)

Animagus, 1 form, (blocked 100%)

True Alchemy (unrealized)

Photographic memory (blood trait from father) (100% block)

_ Blocks placed by Albus Dumbledore _

**Blocks cast on Carmilla Vermilion Poter**

By Albus Dumbledore

Wandless magic 100%, 15 months

Parsel magic 90% 15 months

Animagus 100% 15 months

Mind magics 95% 15 months

Healing magic 100% 15months

Photographic memory 100% 15 months

Total Magical core block 65%: 15months (5%), 3 years (10%), 8 years (20%), 10 years (15%), 11 years (15%)

**Spells cast on Carmilla Vermilion Poter**

By James and Lilly Potter

Power Dampener-1 years, for accidental magic, fades naturally at 5 years

By Albus Dumbledore

Notice Me Not - 15 months, Prevents those who wish to help subject from remembering subject or seeing them

Rage inducer- 15 months, causes those around the subject to feel increased aggression toward the subject and act on it.

Obliviate - 11 years, memories of an event have been removed or replaced

Loyalty Compulsion - 15 months, causes the subject to be loyal to caster

Loyalty Compulsion - 5 years

Loyalty Compulsion - 11 years

Hate Compulsion - 11 years, causes subject to feel hatred towards specific targets of the casters choosing- targets Severus Snape, Slytherin house

Loyalty Compulsion - 12 years

Self-sacrifice Compulsion - 11 years, causes subject to place the health and safety of others above themselves, to the point of death

**Potions used on Carmilla Vermilion Potter**

By Albus Dumbledore

Hate Inducer- 11 to 12 years, causes subject to feel hatred towards specific targets in unison with Hate Compulsion chosen by doser 

Loyalty Inducer - 11 to 12 years. causes subject to feel loyalty towards specific targets in unison with Loyalty Compulsion chosen by doser

By Poppy Pomfrey

Skele-Gro - 12 years, used to regrow bones that have been banished by a spell, the subject lost all bones in right arm from the elbow down

**Families Carmilla Vermilion Potter is the heiress to**

Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter ( step-father)

Most Ancient and Noble House of Black (step-father, Godfather) 

Most Ancient and Noble House of Peverell (step-father)

Most Ancient and Noble House of Slytherin (conquest)

Most Ancient and Noble House of Gryffindor (step-father)

House of Kimblee (Blood father)

House of Evans (mother)

**Properties Owned by Carmilla Vermilion Potter :**

2/4ths Hogwarts Castle, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Godric's Hollow

Potter Castle

Grimmauld Place

Peverell Castle

Griffon and Rose Tavern

70% share of the Daily Prophet 

70% share of Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions

**Vaults Owned by Carmilla Vermilion Potter :**

House of Potter - 6 vaults

House of Black - 5 vaults

House of Peverell - 3 vaults

House of Slytherin - 3 vaults

House of Gryffindor - 3 vaults

**Transactions approved by Heir Potter since 1980 to Present:**

1980

Albus Dumbledore - 300 galleons

1981

Albus Dumbledore - 3,750 galleons

Molly Weasley - 700 galleons

1982

Albus Dumbledore - 800 galleons

Molly Weasley - 1,000 galleons

1983

Albus Dumbledore - 500 galleons

Molly Weasley - 500 galleons

1984

Albus Dumbledore - 400 galleons

Molly Weasley - 1,000 galleons

1987

Albus Dumbledore - 1,000 galleons

Molly Weasley - 500 galleons

1989

Albus Dumbledore - 2,000 galleons

Molly Weasley - 1,000 galleons

1991

Albus Dumbledore - 500 galleons

Molly Weasley - 200 galleons

Ronald Weasley - 100 galleons

Carmilla Vermilion Potter - 200 galleons

1992

Albus Dumbledore - 1,000 galleons

Molly Weasley - 1,000 galleons

Ronald Weasley - 500 galleons

End of Test

Carmilla stared at the parchment in shock, before her blood roared in her veins.

"Is there any way to remove the blocks, get my money back, and what the hell do you mean that James isn't my father?! Why does this say a Mr. Kimblee is my blood father, I don't understand." Carmilla said darkly, fury in her eyes as she stared at the goblin who snorted.

"As the test says, James Potter is your father through magic declaration and adoption only. I am certain that they left a will, but it was sealed by Albus Dumbledore. As the heiress, you can unseal it. More than likely they would have explained everything in the will. We can indeed get your money back and remove the blocks. What would you like done first?"

Ironfang asked, his tone not revealing the rage he too felt, children were rare to his people, and to see this mistreatment insensed him to his limits. And hadn't Tai-Lon said she was fleeing abusive relatives?

Carmilla looked lost as she stared at the paper before looking to Ironfang.

"Sir, what would you suggest? I haven't a damn clue. Though I would like to look into finding my father. He may not know about me and if that is the case I would like to seek him out."

"I would unseal the will for a private reading. The public one can occur after we ensure your safety, Lady Potter. Or would you like to change your name to Lady Kimblee?"

Carmilla frowned for a moment before answering.

"I would like to wait and see if Mr. Kimblee wants me ideally, but with how much Dumbledore has done against me, I would like to change my name now to Carmilla Kimblee, and please unseal the will."

Ironfang nodded, standing up, "Please follow me Lady Kimblee, as this must be done in my office."

Carmilla nodded before grabbing the scroll.

"Can I have a copy of this to give Mr. Kimblee?"

"Yes, but let us wait until we reach my office please," Ironfang answered, leading her down the maze-like halls. 


	3. Gringotts Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know nothing of legal matters, so if anything is wrong with this chapter, forgive me.
> 
> Dobby's speech changes with his excitement level.
> 
> Oh, I know that Harry is right-handed in canon, but I'm left-handed and end up having Carmilla write that way too.

Carmilla watched Ironfang as he barked demands at his aids, her grip tight on the parchment that had torn her world apart. Everything she'd ever learned of her parents, everything she'd been told about her father, was a lie.

But did it matter? She never knew her parents, so learning that James wasn't her father wasn't as painful. She had no attachment to him; he was a stranger.

Still, there was an emptiness now, though it was nowhere near the abyss of rage within her.

She hated the world, it's expectations of her, and she had a feeling that it would only increase as Ironfang finished his work.

"Lady Kimblee?" the goblin's voice sounded, drawing her attention.

"Yes, Sir?" 

Ironfang motioned for her to approach his desk, holding a black quill in his hand.

"This is the document to change your name legally, and that of the Potters from now on, to Kimblee. This quill is something that is only legally allowed for the most important of documents, like this."

"Why is that?"

"It is called the Black Quill, often nicknamed the Blood Quill as it writes in the user's blood. It will also carve the words written into the back of your opposite hand temporarily. It is a class 10 dark artifact do to this, and legally only allowed to be used by the Nation for documents such as this."

Carmilla nodded, but didn't take the quill, "I would first like to do a full audit, Sir, to ensure that we don't make a mistake by using this too early." she explained at his raised brow, making the goblin smirk.

"Wise decision, most wouldn't think of such a thing. Now, as you not of age, but are the last of the Potters, you can claim limited lordship." Ironfang informed the child, who pinched her brows together.

"Lordship?"

"Yes, the families you are heiress to are all noble, save for the Kimblee and Evans. This means that you have votes in the witenagemot amongst things. But, as you are underage, it would be prudent to name proxies to vote in your place."

"Since I plan on leaving, I agree. But that can wait, as we need to look into all of this mess first. Is that my parents' will?" she asked, pointing to a file on the desk.

"Yes, would you like to read it or have me read it aloud? There are also letters addressed to you from both Lord and Lady Potter. They are in the file as well." 

"I would like to read it alone. Please," Carmilla requested, taking the file gently from him.

"Of course, the door to your left is for will reading, take your time. I will begin the audit while you do." 

* * *

Carmilla entered the small room and shut the door behind her, leaning against it as she gathers her thoughts.

In the span of just a few hours, her life has been completely derailed. She'd expected that but to this extent?

Shaking her head, she headed over to the provided desk before tieing her long black hair up with a ribbon to keep it out of her face.

"I think I should read the will first," she muttered, opening the file and setting the letters aside.

This is the will of

James Potter and Lilly Evans-Potter

_I, James Charles Potter, declare this to be my last testament of sound mind and body_

_I, Lillian Ann Evans-Potter, declare this to be my last testament of sound mind and body_

_any other Wills are henceforth invalid by our oath of magic_

First, to our daughter Carmilla, we are so sorry, sweetheart, that we are dead, and if our fears are correct, we died before we got to see you become the beautiful young woman we know you will be.

If this is the case, then we would like the goblins to ensure that our will is carried out to its full extent and that the following events have occurred:

  1. Our daughter is not, under any circumstances, to be placed with Petunia Dursley, even if all other candidates are unavailable. She is to be placed with one of the following, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin (the werewolf laws be damned Moony), Frank and Alice Longbottom, or Severus Snape.
  2. If they are not available, she is to go to someone of the mentioned's choosing.
  3. Albus Dumbledore is NEVER to be her guardian in any way, shape, or form; he is not to be trusted.
  4. Reveal that Petter Pettigrew is our secret keeper, not Sirius!



Now that's out of the way, moving on.

To Remus Lupin, we leave 6,000 galleons; you will always be our friend and family. Take care of yourself, and be there for Carmilla.

To Sirius Black, we leave 6,000 galleons and task you to take care of our little girl.

To Severus Snape, a letter from both of us, release from the life debt, and 10,000 galleons, be the Potions Master we know you are. 

To Albus Dumbledore, nothing, we're on to you, you asshole.

To anyone loyal to Dumbledore, again, NOTHING.

To our beloved Carmilla, we leave everything, and two letters, one from both of us, and knowledge that we love you no matter what you choose.

This is the end of the Testament of James and Lilly Potter.

Carmilla felt a tear run down her face, staring at the proof that Dumbledore was trying to use her for something.

'He'll pay, they'll all pay.' she vowed as she picked up the letter from James.

_Dear Prongslet,_

_I pray that you are reading this after I reached a great age, but more than likely, I didn't. When you claim your lordship, the goblins will have preformed an inheritance test that reveals I am not your father by blood. Hopefully, I would have had the chance to tell you this myself, but it will never change the fact that you are my daughter, and I love you._

_I knew from the beginning that you were never mine Carmilla, I was rendered sterile during a battle with some of Voldemort's elite. I kept this a secret from everyone but your mother. And I never cared that you weren't mine, because you were my Lilly's and that was enough. I have ensured that you will inherit everything that is rightfully yours, blood or not and that no one will be able to deny you your birthright._

_I don't know what kind of man your birth father is, only that he is a Major in the military of his country, Amestris, where your mother's family came from. She'll explain everything in her letter._

_I love you, Prongslet, more than life itself, and if I died protecting you and your mother, then I died the happiest man on Earth. Follow your heart, do what you believe in, and I will always be proud._

_With love_

_James_

Carmilla smiled at the letter, it may not have been long, but got his point across, and while she still couldn't feel grief for his death, she loved him for his words.

Picking up her mother's thicker letter, she took a deep breath and opened it.

_Carmilla, my dear_

_I am not nearly as optimistic as James; I know we are dead and killed early on in your life. By now, you know James isn't your father and that he didn't care either way._

_James, if you read his letter first, will have mentioned that my family and your father hailed from another country known as Amestris and that it isn't on any map of the world._

_This is because it is on the other side of the Gate. We came from a parallel reality, and while my sister is unaware of this fact, I was. We made a deal with the Guardian, the Overseer of the Gate, to come here centuries ago, and we tried keeping the memory of our origin as best as possible._

_When I graduated Hogwarts, and before I married James, I looked into a way back, using diagrams of the transmutation circle used to bring our family here, and succeeded. I met with the Guardian, who warned me that going back would be unwise, that I would have to pay a toll, but I went anyway. My fee ended up being one of my lungs, no one but James knows this. I was also told that because it wasn't a large enough payment, I would only be able to stay for a short few months._

_That was fine for me, because at that time I met your father, Zolf, and he gave me you. I never intended for the affair, but...you probably don't want to hear about how you came about. Let's just say he's an excellent smooth talker, and that we were both drunk, he was heading off on an assignment for the military._

_But never think you were a mistake, I didn't get to tell Zolf of the pregnancy, and it was for the best. He was a State Alchemist, and it was his title that gave you your name. His full title was The Crimson Lotus Alchemist, Zolf J Kimblee, often just called the Crimson Alchemist, and was a Major in the Amestrian Military._

_I wasn't able to stay, and he had work._

_Sounds stupid looking at this, but what else can I say._

_If you seek to escape to Amestris, don't worry about the toll, I have it covered._

_You see, shortly after your father and I went our separate ways, I ran into the very being who helped us escape from Amestris in the first place, a man by the name of Van Hohenheim. How was he still alive you ask, that is his secret to tell, but I told him of my plight, and he gave me what you will need to pay the toll._

_A Philosopher's Stone, and unlike the one from our world, this one is very powerful and challenging to make. I honestly hate the idea of using it, but if it saves you, then do it._

_Philosopher Stones, you see, are made by sacrificing Human Life, hundreds of them, thousands even._

_The Guardian will accept it as the toll, I have set up everything in Potter Castle, and warned the elves to never, ever, mess with the room or allow anyone but you into it._

_Carmilla, we love you so much, and it pains me to think that I'll never see you grow, but I have faith in you and know I always will be proud._

_With love_

_Lilly_

_PS, tell Severus I forgave him long ago, will you? Before you go._

Carmilla stared at the letter, mind blank, for what seemed like an eternity.

Her eyes were burning, but her tears wouldn't, couldn't fall. She refused to let them because then she'd be insulting their sacrifices, they died for her and she will live for them.

Hearing a knock on the door, she called out, "What is it?"

"Lady Kimblee, may I enter?" Ironfang's voice called out, causing her to wipe at her face before standing.

"No need, I'm done and coming out, Sir." 

Opening the door, she was grateful that the goblin didn't comment on her reddish eyes, the file in her hands held out to him.

"I am keeping the letters on my person, and do not enact the will until I leave for my father's homeland." She requested, her voice weary as she joined the goblin back at his desk.

"Homeland, Lady Kimblee?" he inquired, brow raised with suspicion.

Carmilla looked at him for a few moments before answering, the goblin feeling judged by her too old eyes, "Do you remember what my test said, the True Alchemy? Has the Nation heard of the Gate?"

Ironfang froze at her question, one of his aid squeaking; there was only one 'gate' that was referred to with the apparent capitalization of the word.

Something that the Nation preferred to forget existed, the Gate of Truth, where the Being above All resides. 

"Your father is _there?"_

The goblin muttered, nearly paling at her swift nod.

"Yes, and my mother has ensured I have a way there. But before I go, I need to take care of things here. So please, what did you find while I was reading?"

Carmila questioned, having noticed the large stack of papers on the desk before her.

Ironfang frowned as he looked to the papers, "These are reports of your finances, the Potters have invested in many companies, mostly mundane, and thus you will need to review them. Unless you approve of a proxy to do so for you."

Carmilla glanced at the stack and groaned, she had no clue on what to do with them.

"Can I name you, as the Potter Account manager, my proxy, not only for my finances but as my voting proxy as well? I haven't a damn clue what to do, and to be honest, I wish to leave this country as soon as possible," she asked, hoping she could.

"You can, but are you sure you wish to name a Goblin as your proxy?" Ironfang stared at the child who glared at him, smiling at her response.

"I could care less if you were 20 feet tall and had six heads, I don't trust humans Ironfang, and while it may not be the wisest idea to trust your people, if I were biased like the morons, you have done nothing to harm me. So yes, I'd like for you to be my proxy, and it would give your people a say in the world wouldn't it? At least, more than you probably do now. And I could always reclaim my place later can I not? If things go well with Mr. Kimblee, he may be able to help me too."

This child was entertaining, to say the least, Ironfang had to admit.

"Indeed you can,"

"Then where do I sign, and is there anything I need to sign before changing my name so we can get that bit out of the way?"

"No, we can change your name now, sign here." 

Carmilla stood and walked over, taking the quill from the goblin and going to sign her name before pausing, "Quick question, those books and anything that uses my name for profit, what happens to them?" she asked with a wicked gleam in her eyes.

Ironfang matched it with his smile, "They can no longer use your name, they will be aware of your old name of coarse."

This caused her to frown.

"Then I'll need to be quick, is there a way for my house elf to 1, transport me straight to Potter Castle, and 2, assist you in maintaining my properties?"

Dobby appeared with a pop beside her, eyeing the goblins carefully.

"Withs permission from the Nation, I can apparate you straight the Castle, and I's be fully trained by the Malfoy elves to handle finances so long as you tell me what rules to follow." the elf informed her making her nod and sign the papers to change her name.

"Ironfang, I would like for you and Dobby to work together on the finances, but you have full reign alone on the voting bit. So long as it improves life for everyone, human and non-human I can care less what you vote on. And as for getting my money back with interest, said interest goes to the Nation for its troubles. Dobby, you may not be able to come with me to my birth father's homeland, so I'll be counting on you to hold down the fort."

Carmilla ordered as she looked to the elf, who nodded back.

"You can count on me, Miss Carmilla!" he declared before standing behind her chair.

"Very well Lady Kimblee, the name change will take two days to register with the Ministry, now, here are the rings of your families," Ironfang informed, pulling out a box and opening it to reveal five rings.

"Do I have to wear all five? Or do they merge into one?" she asked, eyeing the large rings.

"They merge and resize, when you put the Potter ring on and it accepts you, the blocks will be removed. When you want to sign a document using the signet say the family name." the goblin chuckled, handing her a silver ring with a stag on it. 

"A stag for the signet, I expected a lion," Carmilla joked, "which hand to I place it on, I'm left-handed, but trained myself to be ambidextrous. For some reason, everyone seemed to think I'm right-handed, never bothered to correct them." 

"Place it on your left hand then, as for the Stag, the Potter's value truth and nobility."

Carmilla did as told and heard the sound of breaking glass in her mind as she shuddered, feeling like a weight lifted from her as the ring resized to fit.

"The ring has accepted you, now for the Black ring," the ring was platinum with opal, with two greyhounds supporting the coat of arms etched into it, "if it accepts you, then your mind will never be invaded, not that it could as a natural occlumencist"

"And that means?" she asked as she put the ring on, though it didn't resize or merge with the Potter ring. "And what about this?"

Ironfang smiled at the question. 

"The ring still sees your godfather as the Head of House, as according to the will, he is innocent of the crime of betraying your parents to Voldemort. He never had a trial and thus is innocent in the eyes of magic. As for the Occlumencist, occlumency is the art of defending one's mind from being read."

Carmilla's eyes narrowed at that.

"No trial? Can you do something about that, after I'm gone? Also, inform him that I will be fine, and not to seek me out as I wish for nothing to do with Wizards again if I can?" 

Ironfang's grin widened at that, nodding. 

"Indeed we can, I will claim that you, in mourning for your parents, want to know why he did it but found he'd had no trial," he said, handing her a gold band with a bisected circle inside of a triangle that was also bisected by the same line carved into an amethyst.

Once she put in on, the ring hummed slightly and merged with the Potter ring. 

"Which was that, Ironfang?"

"The Peverell ring, this is the Gryffindor ring", which was gold with a griffin on it, rubies set in the eyes, which immediately merged with the others, the eyes glowing for a moment. 

"Do the last two do anything?" 

"The Gryffindor ring will deflect curses placed on objects. The Peverell ring's protections are unknown as it has not been worn in over a hundred years. This is the last, the Slytherin ring, which will prevent potions from being used on you without your knowledge, as it will make the tainted food or drink glow red of varying shades depending on the danger." 

Carmilla nodded as she put the silver ring with a basilisk and emeralds for the eyes on, a chill running up her spine as the ring merged.

"Congratulations Lady Kimblee-Evans-Gryffindor-Peverell-Slytherin, all that is left is to perform another test done by the healers to assess if all the blocks have been removed, update your medical files, and look to see if there is anything that would not be registered by the inheritance test affecting your person," Ironfang informed.

"Very well, can we do that now? And about my relatives and Dumbledore, I want you to do everything you can to make them suffer."

Ironfang grinned, "That is why we are heading to the healers."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gringotts part 3 is next and will also include her arrival at Potter castle


	4. Gringotts pt3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we explore a bit of Carmilla's mindset, build the case against the Dursleys, and prepare to go to Amestris

Carmilla sat down on the infirmary cot as she waited for the healer to arrive, thinking about the Philosopher's Stone.

'Made out of human lives, huh?' she pondered, not sure what to make of the fact.

On the one hand, she should be horrified to think of death on such a scale, but what did she know of death? She should be mortified at the thought of using lives to active her goals, but were they still alive like that? 

On the other hand, the stone was her ticket to a new life. By using the stone, she would be giving those souls a purpose. And what is to say they would hate her for it? 

She also had to acknowledge that she couldn't find it in her to care. She couldn't care that people lost their lives to make the stone; she didn't know a single one.

She wondered if something was wrong with her, then reminded herself that she lived by the rule of 'survival,' she did everything in her life to increase her chances of survival. Thus, she decided that she would indeed use the stone, and never forget the sacrifice to both make it, and help her pass through the Gate.

Hearing approaching footsteps, she looked up to see Tai-Lon.

"Hello, Lady Kimblee, I am Tai-Lon, and I am the Healer that has been assigned to your case." the goblin greeting, smiling at the confusion on her face.

"I thought you were a teller, Sir?" 

"Every Goblin is trained in two to three arts, mandatory is combat, and I choose healing as my second ma'am. I was asked to guide you to the conference room as you believed someone intended you harm. And seeing the results of the Inheritance Test, I agree with you. Ironfang has trained as a warrior, solicitor, and healer himself. You have no idea the storm you've unleashed on the wizards by naming him your proxy; he's one of our best."

Tai-Lon explained, setting down a bowl with a white potion.

"What is that?"

"This potion is Goblin made only and allows us to see your full medical history. Every injury, illness, or another status that has affected you throughout your life will be recorded with this potion. It only requires three drops of blood, if you will?" Tai-Lon handed her a needle, which she used to prick her finger quickly.

"Since you specified that it was Nation only, I assume you don't use this for everyone?"

"No, we do not, but as you intend to leave through the Gate, we have little time to waste, and a full diagnostic check-up would take up to three days." the Goblin told her as he placed a scroll into the potion. "This will take five minutes to soak in fully. Is there anything that you would like to discuss in the meantime?" he asked as Ironfang entered with a notepad.

"This is for building the case against my abusers, right?"

"Yes?"

"Where should I begin?"

"Wherever you feel is best."

Carmilla took a deep breath, reminding herself that the goblins weren't like the humans that had caused her pain in the past, that they _would_ help her before she began.

"For as long as I can remember, the Dursleys have abused me in some fashion. Most often, it was Vernon beating me for some slight; sometimes, it was just because he was bored. I was forced to do chores in one day that would take a normal person two, and if I failed, I was hit, and if I succeeded, I was hit. My food rations were horrid while they feasted. If I was lucky, I got a sandwich every two days. Water once a day. Baths were once a week. They made me cook as soon as I could see over the stovetop with a stool, and never got any of it. My 'bedroom' was a 4x6 cupboard under the stairs."

Carmilla summarized, she honestly didn't want to go into detail if she didn't have to. 

The goblins growled at this, children were a treasure more precious than gold and knowing that humans would harm a child like that pissed them off. The Dursleys would face the Nation for there crimes.

As would Dumbledore, as he was responsible for her placement.

"Lady Kimblee, did they ever, I must ask, were you ever touched inappropriately?" Tai-Lon asked it would, of course, be revealed by the test, but that didn't mean she was aware of it, thus his question.

"No, thankfully, I am a light sleeper as you could imagine, have been for quite a while," Carmilla assured as she saw the potion flash white.

Tai-Lon took the scroll out of the bowl and felt relief flood him as he scanned the parchment, no sexual assault.

Status Potion

Location: Gringotts Bank, Diagon Alley, London England

Date: June 23, 1993

Name of Subject: Carmilla Vermilion Potter

Birth: July 31, 1980, Saint Mungo's Hospital, England

Father: Zolf J Kimblee, The Crimson Lotus Alchemist, blood father

Father: James Charles Potter, adoption/step-father, declared heir by magic

Mother: Lillian "Lilly" Ann Evan-Potter

Age: 12

Height: 4'11

Weight: 75

Hair Color: Black

Eye Color: Green (glamor), dichromatic gold (left eye) and green (right eye)

**Injuries Sustained By Carmilla Potter**

Broken Arm (left) at ages 4, 6, 7, 9

Broken Arm (right) at ages 3,5,8,10,12

Spinal fracture at ages 5,7,8 vertebra C7, T10, and L5

Skull fracture age 7

Broken Leg (left, tibia) age 7

Broken Leg (right, femur) age 8

Bones in the Arm (right) banished by a spell at age 12, bones regrown

Right hand burned, 2nd degree, age 4

**Illness sustained by Carmilla Potter**

Common cold ages 4,6,7,8,9

pneumonia ages 4,5,7,8,9

**Abnormal Status**

Horcrux, placed by Tom Marvolo Riddle/Lord Voldemort

Obliviate, placed by Albus Dumbledore

end of test

Carmilla looked over the list at Tai-Lon's promoting, the rage in his eyes damning for the Dursleys, not that she cared, and nodded.

"Sound's about right on the arms and legs, didn't know about the skull and spine fractures though. I learned to ignore the pain because I wouldn't get breaks, just beatings. I never saw medical attention ever. Could my magic have helped? I never really noticed accidental magic like I heard others talk about." she asked.

"Yes, your magic more than likely internalized to ensure your survival. You're lucky you didn't become an Obscurus. Now, we must remove the Horcrux immediately."

"What's an Obscurus, and what's a Horcrux?"

Ironfang answered her, his expression grim, "An Obscurus is a dark creature created when a magical child is abused and begins to repress their magic, whether by physical or psychological abuse. Eventually, a parasitic negative entity will manifest as a separate being that is violent and destructive in its fury at the world. The Obscurial, the manifested being, often lashes out at whatever distresses the host." 

"A Horcrux," Tai-Lon began, "is the foulest, darkest magic ever created, as it's the act of tearing apart one's soul to escape death. The creation of such a thing can only occur by committing the act of murder, followed by a spell and horrific act performed soon after the murder. We must remove it from you as a living Horcrux never been seen before, and we do not know how it is affecting your health Lady Kimblee."

Carmilla felt rage and disgust boil in the pit of her stomach, how dare someone do something so foul to her?

"I want it gone, now, please!" she demanded, eyes pleading.

"We will, ma'am, give me twenty minutes to prepare so that we may safely remove it."

* * *

The whole affair of the Horcrux's destruction was simple, a quick ritual that was to cleanse the object, in her case, a person of dark magics.

The cleansing itself had left her feeling chilled inside, but a cup of tea helped with that.

Returning to Ironfang's office after being giving a case of potions, she was ordered to take on a strict schedule that was shrunken down into a pocket-sized charm; she looked to the Goblin.

"Now that we have most of the immediate affairs out of the way, I would like to apologize that no one realized the harm you were in child."

"Don't, you've done more for me than any, Master Ironfang, that's all that matters. If there isn't anything else that needs my direct attention, I would like to get to Potter Castle; I have much to do and little time to do it."

"Just one thing, a courtesy on my part, but I took the liberty of obtaining the books you would have come needed for your next six school years, and the potions ingredients needed. It's possible that these are not the books that future teachers would have required of you, but they are the ones that have typically been used and are considered the most relevant." 

The Goblin explained, handing her a shrunken trunk.

"Thank you Ironfang, at least my magic won't suffer, though I probably won't use it much, I intend to look into this alchemy, my father is an alchemist."

"We will six months before we proceed with the reading of the will, and the case against the Dursleys. Hopefully, we will have everything taken care of if we ever see you again, Lady Kimblee."

Ironfang told her as she stood and called for Dobby.

"Thank you...what is the proper Goblin greeting?"

"May your gold flow, and your enemies fall is the basic greeting and goodbye. Why?"

Carmilla smiled and bowed to him, "May your gold flow like rivers, and your enemies grant you glory in death, Ironfang."

"May your gold flow, and enemies quake in fear of you, Lady Kimblee." the Goblin returned with a bow of his own, watching as the elf took her hand and disappeared with a pop.

Looking at the files on his desk, a shark-like grin split his face.

"Now you foolish wizards, let's see how much hell I can cause for you!"

Let it be said everyone avoided Ironfang's office for the next several hours for the cackling coming within.

* * *

Carmilla took in the sight of Potter Castle with awe, while not as big a Hogwarts, the estate was beautiful and well kept.

"Miss Carmilla, shall I seek the Head Elf?"

"Yes, tell them everything, and then have them lead me to the room my mother spoke of Dobby."

She told the elf who nodded before disappearing, walking into the foyer she wondered what it would have been like to grow up here, loved instead of hated.

Finding a large den, she ran her hand along the backs of the furniture, eyeing the portraits scattered about.

Envy, she decided, was one of the worst emotions to have nipping at her heels.

"Miss Carmilla, welcome home." an ancient voice sounded behind her, and she turned to it, spotting an even older looking elf with Dobby at his side, the Potter crest on his uniform.

"Though not for long, I'm afraid, you are?" she asked.

"I am Quintus ma'am, and while I will be sad at your parting, I rejoice in knowing you are safe. Dobby has told us of the situation, and we shall await your return, Lady Carmilla." the elf informed, bowing to her.

"Did I know you then?"

"I cared for you as a newborn, as I have cared for the heirs of this family for five generations, ma'am. If you will follow me to the ritual room," Quintus smiled, large blue eyes alight with joy.

"Thank you, Quintus, for your long service to the family."

"It has been my pleasure, my Lady."

The ancient elf led them to a room filled with runic arrays, littering the floor, walls, and ceiling.

"Lady Potter left a chest over there for you, Miss Carmilla. This is where Dobby and I shall leave you, as we cannot go with you through the Gate."

Carmilla nodded to them as she walked over to the simple black wooden box, lifting the lid to reveal a red velvet interior and a glowing, pulsing red stone in the center. 

Tacked to the inside of the lid was a note.

_Carmilla, to use the circle, hold the stone in hand while spilling blood onto it, I already primed it. It'll take you to the Gate. Good Luck, darling._

Moving to the center circle, she placed the orb-shaped stone in her mouth, she used a cutting hex on her palm, watching her blood fall.

The moment the first drop hit the array, it light with a hellish red and she felt like someone pulled on her insides as wind ripped through the room. 

In a flash, she was gone, and in the headmaster's office, several instruments blew up.

Too bad he wouldn't learn of it for several days. 


	5. The Gate

a"this" is talking

'this' is thinking

" _this_ " is Truth

* * *

Carmilla fell to her knees with a grunt, her eyes throbbing behind her lids as she tried to gather herself. She felt like a Troll used her for a club, again.

Opening her eyes, she immediately closed them at the stabbing white light, raising a hand to cover her eyes at the spike of pain the action had caused.

"Damn that stings," she muttered, slowly opening her eyes again to see an endless expanse of white surrounding her, idly spitting the stone out into her palm from where it rested in her check.

"Where am I?" she wondered, looking around to see if she could spot anything and finding a large slate grey pair of doors seemingly floating off the ground a few feet, the surface of the doors smoother than anything she'd ever seen.

" _Hello, Little Witch"_ an amorphous voice, neither male or female, single or many, called out from behind her making her whip around to spot the speaker sitting a few meters away, their form nearly impossible to make out from the white void around them because of its featureless appearance, save for the black mist wafting off of them and the too wide piano toothed grin.

"Are you the Guardian?" Carmilla asked the being; it's grin widening.

" _Indeed I am, though I have been called many other things as well, one you might have for me is the World, or you might call me the Universe, or perhaps God, Death, Life or the Truth. I am All, and I am One. So, of course, this also means that I am you."_

The being, Truth she decided to call them, answered, moving from his lotus sitting position to raising one knee and resting his arm on it, malicious mischief permeating its form in some sort of expectation.

"A pleasure to meet you then, Truth." She bowed, receiving a frown from Truth.

" _You're an interesting one, normally humans either panic or deny me."_ If she didn't know better, she'd almost say Truth was pouting.

"I do not know why most meet with you, but since you took my mother's lung in exchange for allowing her passage to Amestris, I assume that most people have done something monumentally stupid to come before you and thus try to deny their guilt. Am I right?" Carmilla questioned, sitting down with her knees folded under her.

 _"That is correct. Normally when humans appear before me, they have performed the Taboo among alchemists. You and your mother are exceptions to the rule. I see you have your toll."_ Truth smiled, pointing to the stone in her hand.

"Yes, but may I ask some questions before you send me on my way?" she requested, placing the stone on the ground between them.

_"You may, as the Stone shall cover more than just your passage. You will need knowledge of the world you seek after all. Ask, child."_

Truth commanded, returning to its previous lotus position.

"I know nothing of alchemy, and from the way you spoke of a Taboo, I would like to know about this power I have, if you will?" 

" _A wise question, Alchemy, in the world you seek, is a science, not magic. It is the science of Understanding, Deconstructing, and Reconstructing matter from one form to another. However, it is not an all-powerful art, as many believe, for humans cannot obtain something out of nothing. To obtain something, something of equal value must be lost; this is the Law of Equivalent Exchange, the basis of all alchemy. For example, if you transmute a rose, you cannot obtain a tree, that is not equivalent. You could, however, turn lead into gold as they hold both the same mass and have base similarities. Or water into ice or gas. So long as the gas has water as a composite, you can turn the water into any gas. Your father uses his alchemy to create explosions by creating energy imbalances within an object that cause the explosive reaction. But those are his alchemical secrets, and I will not go further. If you seek to learn his alchemy, learn it from him, either directly or through his notes."_

Truth explained, leaving Carmilla with the feeling that he'd given the extremely bastardized summary of how her father's alchemy worked.

"I think I follow, a bit anyway."

_"I could show you the Truth if you like, the Stone would allow for it."_

"I think not; I believe in hard work to earn what I know. Without working for something, how can humans, let alone myself, grow?" Carmilla grunted, she did not believe in the easy path.

" _Thus, you are smarter than almost every single person I've met."_

The tone Truth used made her want to snort in annoyance; people like that pissed her off. 

"Can you inform me of the basic history of this world. I don't want to be caught unaware. Nothing about my father, I'd like to find those things out from him."

" _We would be here too long if I explained it by telling you. When you go through your Gate, the one behind you, I will implant the information into your mind. Be warned; it will hurt. But without a little pain, nothing can be learned."_

Carmilla nodded; she didn't want to intrude after all.

"Very well, but may I ask these last two questions,"

" _What is it, Little Witch?"_

"The books and potions I attempted to bring with me, will I be allowed to keep them? And what do you mean, exactly, by saying that this is "my" Gate?"

Truth looked pleased with the latter question.

" _You will be allowed the books, as they are needed for you to continue practicing your magic, the potions will not. You will not need them after passing through the Gate. The ingredients for future potions will be, for the most part, left alone. The more exotic ingredients will not pass. There are no creatures that exist within Amestris to allow for the passage. I will change the information in the books to allow for substitutions. There will be two sets of books, the originals, and the adjusted copies."_

"Is one Stone worth this much?" Carmilla asked it seemed like she was getting too much, and knowing that this Being took her mother's lung as payment, she was going to err on the side of caution.

" _Smart question, and yes, the Stone from Van Hohenheim will cover your toll for the several thousand souls within it. Though, there is something I will request of you as well."_

Carmilla decided that while she hated the tone Truth used, she was prepared for it as well.

"Equivalent Exchange, yes?" she chuckled, closing her bi-colored eyes with a small smile.

" _The Horcrux that had been placed within you, it's stench permeates the air surrounding you. Only I will notice this foulness, and it has made me realize that I had turned my eye from Earth for too long. I will request that you one day return to your birth world, and purge the other Horcruxes that have been made by that fool Voldemort. You will not be forced to remain on Earth, and you will be allowed to bring your closest with you when you must return. But that will be years from now, as for every two months on Earth, a year passes in Amestris."_

Truth explained with a solemn tone that made her sigh.

"I understand Truth; I will do as you ask. Now about the Gate?" Carmilla inquired as she pointed to the Gate that was beginning to have something carved into it.

" _Every person in the world, both Amestris, and Earth, has their own Portal of Truth, this is the source of both Alchemy and Magic, that is connected to this plain, which is the True Gate. As such, each Alchemist and Mage has a Gate within themselves. In a normal person, this Gate closes with time; in an Alchemist or Mage, the Gate remains open, but a distance is created. The Gate of every Alchemist differs in appearance in accordance to one's life experience and how they view the world. Right now, your Gate is a blank slate; because you are just beginning to understand Alchemy, if we ever meet again, it will look much different to now."_

Carmilla nodded at this, looking at the Gate behind her, her Gate, that looked like it had several etchings of circles on it though she couldn't make out anything else.

"I see, thank you Truth, but I believe it's time for me to go, correct?" Carmilla asked as she stood, Truth taking the Stone and nodding.

" _Indeed, it is. I will be dropping you in a town called Dublith; I recommend finding a bar called the Devil's Nest and telling him that I've sent you. He is not human, or are those who follow him, despite their appearances. I'll leave him to explain what he is."_

"Understood," she said, turning to the Gate that began to open, "and Truth," she paused, looking back to the Being, "thank you for this," she told them as she walked into the black abyss of the Gate's interior.

As the Gate shut behind her, Truth whispered something she didn't catch.

_"Good luck, Carmilla Kimblee, may we meet again on pleasant terms."_


	6. The Nest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carmilla meets Greed

"This" is talking

'This' is thoughts

" _This"_ is Truth speaking

**~this~ is Parseltongue**

* * *

Carmilla woke in an alley, head pounding from the download of information that the Gate had seared into her brain.

"By Truth, I never want to do that again," she muttered as she rose to a kneeling position, looking around to see the filthy alley around her.

"Need to find the Devil's Nest, wonder if Truth was kind enough to drop me close by or if I'm gonna have to be awkward and ask around. Least I can speak Amestrian now." Carmilla sighed as she took in her appearance in a window. 

Her clothes had changed from her Hogwarts uniform, which she'd never bothered to change out of, to a black t-shirt and jean shorts with combat boots and a jacket while her hair was still tied back in a ribbon, but the color had changed from white to red.

At least she wouldn't need to steal any clothes then.

Walking out of the alley, she joined the flow of traffic and looked at the shop names, wandering around and taking in the sights.

After six hours of looking, and failing, to find the bar, she sat down on a bench, nearly tearing her hair out in frustration.

"How hard can it freaking be to find a place called the Devil's Nest for Truth's sake!" she groaned, not noticing that she'd begun replacing "Merlin" with "Truth."

She did, however, notice a beast of a man with silver-white hair freezing for a moment as he passed her before continuing on his path.

Seeing the man speed up, Carmilla jumped up and followed him only to lose him as he took to the alleys.

"Damn it! I lost my lead!" Carmilla hissed as she tried to pick up the man's trail for a few minutes when she heard footsteps approach her from behind.

Turning to the source, she saw a man with short black and evil grey eyes behind her.

"Are you lost, sweetheart?" the man asked, his voice oily and making her shudder.

"No, I'm fine," Carmilla answered, keeping him in her sight as she made her way around him.

"I heard ya mention the Devil's Nest, I could help ya get there if ya like," the man pushed, blocking off her exit.

"I'd rather find it on my own," Carmilla told the man, sliding her wand out of her arm holster and hiding it in her sleave, preparing to cast the leg-locking hex.

Only, she never got the chance as the man tackled her to the ground.

"GET OFF!" she screamed, hoping that while they were too far from the main street, the man she'd been following would hear her.

"No one's coming girly, so just behave, and you'll make it out of this alley alive." the man hissed, trying to cover her mouth when she bit his hand.

"FUCk!" the man screeched, clutching his hand to his chest while Carmilla made her escape.

"Take that asshole!" she yelled as she ran, not looking back as not to slow herself down. 

Taking a blind turn, she skidded to a halt, cursing her luck, she'd run into a dead end.

Spinning on her heel, she froze at seeing the man at the alley entrance.

"Now you're gonna bleed bitch!" he roared at her, backing her up to the wall as she started shaking.

"Stay away, please, leave me alone." she whimpered as her back met the wall, she didn't want to die like this, not after she'd finally become free.

As the man towered over her, hands reaching out to grab her, she muttered, "This is why I hate humans..." as she kneeled, hands over her ears, and waiting for the end.

But, hands never touched her, and after a few moments, she looked up to see why though squinted eyes.

What she found shocked her, the man was dead, cut clean in two, as a stocky built, spikey brown-haired man with blue eyes swung a sword to clean it of blood stood over the corpse with the silver-haired man, a cloaked figure, a woman with short-cropped blond hair and a red tribal tattoo, and a muscular man with short, spikey black slicked-back hair dressed in a white-furred black leather sleeveless jacket, black pants, pointed shoes, and sunglasses.

What caught her attention about the last male was his wine-red cat-like eyes under the shades, sharp teeth, and the tattoo on the back of his left hand, an ouroboros tattoo. 

"You okay, kid?" the sword wielder asked, his eyes kind but cold.

"Y...yes...thank you," Carmilla muttered as fur jacket kneeled in front of her.

"My pal Roa," the man began, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder at the silver-haired man, "told us that you were following him. Why's that kiddo?" he asked, his friends standing behind him at a distance as not to crowd the girl.

When Roa had told him that he'd overheard a kid talking about the Devil's Nest and said kid following after him, he'd automatically thought that the others had found him.

But looking at the kid, who couldn't be one of them since she hadn't been able to fight back, he found her to be just some human kid. So why was she looking for his bar?

"I...um...I'm looking for the owner of the Devil's Nest, I was told to find him...Mr. Roa froze when I mentioned it earlier, so I thought he could help me." the girl began, looking down at her hands.

"Well, you found him. Name's Greed kid, why ya looking for me?" the now-named Greed asked, the girl's head snapping up to look him in the eye.

"I was told to tell you that Truth sent me. My name is Carmilla. I...I was told you could help me." Carmilla answered, and while Greed didn't show it, his blood ran cold at her answer.

Truth, as in the same being that his old man droned on and on about?

Offering his hand to her, ever the gentleman, he gave her a sharp smile.

"This isn't something we should be discussing in a dirty alley then. If Truth sent you, suppose I can't refuse." Greed explained, eyes narrowing when she eyed his hand distrustfully. Then again, considering what they'd come across.

"Martel, be a doll and help our guest up. Roa, get rid of the body." Greed ordered as he stood, the woman taking his place and helping the girl up.

"Hey kid, the name's Martel, let's get you cleaned up, huh?" the woman said, the girl taking her hand as soon as offered.

But it wasn't for the reason of Martel being a woman like Greed and the other's thought. No, it was because, to Carmilla, the woman reminded her of a snake, a creature she adored.

"Thank you, Miss Martel," Carmilla said as she followed the group back to the bar, staying close to the older woman.

* * *

Once they were in his office back in the Devil's Nest, the other chimera keeping the patrons busy enough to miss the child with him, he stared at the child who sat on one of his couches.

He'd ordered everyone but Dolcetto, his bodyguard, and a dog chimera, and Martel, who was a snake chimera.

The reason being that the two could detect lies better than anyone under his command.

"So," Greed began as he offered the kid a glass of water, "it's not every day that someone claims to have met Truth, even I haven't. Why would such a being be interested in a kid like you?" he asked, taking off his shades to pin her with his wine-red eyes.

Carmilla took the cup but didn't drink from it, as her gold and green eyes narrowed on him. 

"They aren't necessary; I paid the toll to pass through the Gate using a Philosopher's Stone my mother had acquired, given to her by another. Truth mentioned that since I don't trust humans that it would be best to seek you out, as apparently neither you or anyone who works for you is human. Didn't say what you were, that you would explain." 

She explained, trying to keep eye contact, which he respected her for, but failing.

Glancing to his subordinates, he saw Dolcetto nod slightly, informing him she wasn't lying.

Looking back to the kid, he took a good look at her.

She was tiny, smaller than any human kid he'd seen, not that he'd seen many, with long pitch-black hair and eyes that were two different colors. Her left eye was an amber gold, while the right was a shade of green he'd never seen before.

She also had an angry-looking scar above her right eye in the shape of a lightning bolt and pale skin.

"Okay then, let's start over. My name is Greed; I am a homunculus created to embody the sin I am named after. I want everything this world has to offer; money, power, women, status, I want it all. I want the finer things in life. I've existed for over two hundred years. So, who are you? Why did you need to pass through the Gate?" Greed questioned, censoring his normal speech since he didn't know how old the kid was, though he doubted she was older than ten from her size.

Carmilla stared at him for a moment, thinking about what he said before responding.

"My name is Carmilla Kimblee; I'm twelve about to be thirteen this coming July, I needed to pass through the Gate to escape being turned into a mindless puppet at the hands of an old man who wanted to keep me stupid for reasons I don't know yet. My mother's family originated from Amestris but left a few centuries ago to escape something from here, a being called Dwarf, who wanted to kill them. But, nearly sixty years ago in the world that they fled to Earth, a war began between to factions of alchemist like people called mages. This war lasted over sixty years, and when my mother realized the danger she and her fiance, my step-father, were in, she looked into a way to return to Amestris. Almost fourteen years ago, she came back to Amestris at the cost of her left lung and met my father, a State Alchemist by the name of Zolf J Kimblee. You can see where that bit went." 

Carmilla said with a rueful smile before frowning.

"However, the toll my mother paid wasn't enough to stay in Amestris, and she was forced to return after a few months. She'd acquired a Philosopher's Stone to be the proper toll but never got the chance to use it and instead prepared for me to escape to Amestris. I learned of all this about a day ago, I think, and immediately activated the transmutation circle, paid the toll, and now here we are."

"May I ask, where are your folks then?" Greed asked, shocked that she was twelve and having a bad feeling that he knew the answer.

"Murdered, when I was a baby. My step-father knew I wasn't his child; he was sterile. He didn't care either, left everything to me. But I couldn't stay there, not when the man I mentioned was trying to do something that wasn't in my best interest. When I learned that I had living family, a father, I jumped at the chance to escape that hell."

"I remember Kimblee from Ishval, man isn't what I'd call fatherly material," Dolcetto stated, drawing Carmilla's attention.

"Ishval, the war. Truth implanted the information about that hell; I'd imagine that it must have been worse for anyone who'd been there. I don't really care if Kimblee doesn't want me, I just wanted to escape. I was tired of being caged, of having some sort of plan forced on me and not knowing anything." Carmilla told him, not seeing the exchange between Dolcetto and Martel, who nodded to each other, they'd be watching out for the kid.

With or without Greed's permission. She was just like them, used and abused for the amusement of others.

The exchange wasn't missed by Greed; however, who agreed with them. 

"Well, what exactly can a mage do?" he asked, waving his hand dismissing Dolcetto.

"From what I've been able to gather from the knowledge giving to me by Truth, Magic and Alchemy come from the same source, the Gate, but where Alchemy follows strict laws and requirements, Magic doesn't. It's more like water in that it flows while still following some base laws. This," Carmilla paused as she pulled out her wand, "is a wand and acts similar to an alchemical array to focus the energy used to perform spells." 

Greed nodded at the explanation, somewhat understanding those most was lost on him.

"Go on," 

Carmilla pointed the tip of her wand to her glass and said, "Wingardium Leviosa," and Greed watched in surprise as the glass floated off the table even with the tip of the wand.

"This is the levitation spell, not sure about the limit to what it can lift, but I have seen it lift a roughly twenty-pound club made of solid wood before," Carmilla informed as she canceled the spell, the glass sitting gently back down on the table.

Greed clapped at this, thinking of a thousand uses around the bar alone for such a spell.

"I would like to request that I not use this around any you don't trust sir, back on Earth, my world, we're taught to not use it around those who don't already know of magic's existence, due to a bad history with non-mages."

Martel spoke for the first time since their arrival in the office.

"History like the Ishvalan war of extermination?" she questioned in a knowing tone, humans tended to destroy what they could not understand or obtain for themselves.

"Not quite to that level, but yes. Non-magical's would burn us alive, well, they'd attempt it. We do have a fire freezing charm though I haven't learned it myself." 

Greed sighed, all too familiar with the bloodthirsty ways of humans. 

"I won't ask you to do what you are not comfortable with Carmilla. But," he began as he leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees, "if you're going to stay with us, you're gonna have to live with some rules."

Carmilla nodded, she expected that and motioned for him to continue.

"One, you belong to me, and I don't mean as a slave or shit like that. I'm Greed kid, everything in this world is mine for the taking. Being my possession means that you're mine to protect in your case."

"Understood"

"Two, you do as told so long as it doesn't make you uncomfortable. I tell you to jump; you ask how high. Sometimes you'll see me get my head lobbed off by Roa because I'm proving I'm not human. That's rare, but one day if he's not about, I may ask Dolcetto or even you. Get it?" 

Greed questioned, expecting her to refuse but only getting a nod in response.

"Okay, I may not like it, but I think I could do it. I remember reading about a blasting hex in an upper-year book once. I have it with me." 

"Aren't you a peach doll," Greed joked as he leaned back in his chair.

"Three, keep up learning your magic and help around the bar if you can. Like the more non-human looking guys, you can stick to the back. That, and I don't need the cops on my ass thanks to a kid in the bar. I'll look into finding you books on basic alchemy, and I think there's an alchemist in Dublith, but I don't think she takes students. She might have a few books you could borrow, though."

Carmilla smiled at this before she asked, "Thank you, but may I ask what exactly is a homunculus and what the others are?"

Greed smirked, "A homunculus if you pay attention to what alchemy says, is an artificially created human. They are created through alchemy. However," he paused holding up his left hand, pointer finger extended upward, "this is not strictly true, the first homunculus, my old man who you mentioned, Dwarf, was created in an alchemical experiment over four hundred years ago in Xerxes, a kingdom that no longer exists. He was made using blood from a Xerxesian slave, Number 23, who now goes by the name Van Hohenheim. Old man has no clue I know this, so it's our secret."

Greed chuckled with a conspirational smile making Carmilla smirk, "and you?"

"Dwarf tricked the king of Xerxes into turning his whole country into a human transmutation circle designed for making a Philosopher's Stone under the guise of making the king immortal. The moron did it, and the entire country died save for my old man and Hohenheim because they were in the center of the circle, turning them both into living Philosopher Stones. Half the souls for my old man, the other for Hohenheim. Though the latter had no clue."

Greed continued as his right hand turned gunmetal grey, his fingers replaced with claws he then dug into his chest, pulling the flesh apart and holding it as red lightning flashed around the room.

In his chest was a Philosopher's Stone, much larger than the one Carmilla had used.

"All other homunculi come from the old man, the result of him removing his seven sins of man, by injecting a stone into a human body, save for both Pride and Envy. Either the stone kills the new host by deconstructing and reconstructing them until the body gives out, or a new homunculus is born. I honestly couldn't tell you if the soul in control of this body was the original or if it was one fo the countless souls within the stone."

"So the stone could be called your heart, in a way?"

"Yep, I'm the third oldest, Pride is the oldest and was made almost exactly like the old man's first form. He needs a container in order to exist, don't know what it is currently. Lust is the second oldest and takes the appearance of a tall, beautiful woman with a busty build. Seriously, her boobs are way too big."

"Greed!" Martel hissed at her boss who waved her off.

"Her hair reaches her mid-back and is black. Her eyes are more of a mauve, still cat-like, and her Ouroboros tattoo is on her chest, just above her breasts." Greed finished. 

"And the others?" Carmilla asked, not bothered by his crass way of speaking.

"Next is Envy, the 'child' after me, they're genderless and don't care what you call them. Normally they take the appearance of an androgynous youth with pale skin and a lean, muscular build. Most notable is their tattoo on the outer left thigh, violet cat-like eyes, and their green hair that's long and whispy. I like to call them palm tree cause they kinda look like one with that hair. Like Pride, Envy has a true form. Envy's being a lizard-like creature that is about the size of my hand if their stone is exhausted, which is the only time you'll see it, and kinda looks like a caterpillar-like serpent with multiple legs, and a lawless, sucker-like mouth lined with teeth to latch on. Like that, he can be a parasite. Otherwise, they're massive, larger than a house, and is chimera like in appearance, with a serpentine body, human-like long hair, a dog-like head, and six pupils in their left eye. Most disturbing if you ever see that form is that the souls in their stone form a main of mangled bodies around their neck, constantly wailing in agony."

Carmilla was struck with the image of a talking palm tree and laughed before the last bit registered, making her frown. "What a sad existence."

"Then we have Sloth, who is a beast of a man, always complaining about things being a pain to boot. Out of all of my 'siblings,' you'll probably never see him. He's the largest, save for Envy's true form. You'll know him if you see him. His tattoo is on the back of his right shoulder. Not much else to say about him. Last, and not the least, is Gluttony."

Greed said with a shudder, that tub of lard always made him uncomfortable.

"Gluttony?" Carmilla asked, confused at the look on Greed's face.

"Yeah, Gluttony is a bit of a sad thing, he was created by the old man in an attempt to create a physical Portal of Truth. He's fat, no other way to put it, but insanely fast at times as well. His tattoo is on his tongue and can eat just about anything. I do mean anything. He's bald, has white, pupil-less eyes, and rather childlike. He'd follow Lust around like a puppy and is all-around easy to deal with so long as he doesn't have permission to eat you. Docile really, and very kind when he isn't in a frenzy."

Carmilla smiled sadly at his description, feeling a bit of kinship in the fact it sounded like Gluttony was being used.

"What about Wrath, they're the only one you haven't listed."

"Far as I'm aware," Greed shrugged, "Wrath hasn't been created yet. I left a while ago, got into a fight with the old man, my avarice pissing him off, and have been on my own ever since. Then about ten years ago, I raided a lab that belonged to the military and found my underlings. They are all chimera, a being made through alchemy by combining different animals. Only this lab was experimenting with humans. All of them were soldiers from Ishval as they can tell you. If you want to know what they're mixed with, ask them."

Greed finished, pointing to Martel who answered gruffly, "I was mixed with snakes, not sure what kind. None were venomous at least."

Carmilla jerked her head to Martel, causing the woman to hiss thinking she was disgusted, only for Carmilla to speak in what Martel registered wasn't Amestrian, but she still understood

**~Can you understand this?~**

Carmilla asked her, making her nod and unknowingly respond in the same way, Greed watching in confusion as the pair started hissing at each other.

**~Yes, I know it isn't Amestrian, but I can understand you. What language is that?~**

Martel asked, tilting her head.

**~Parseltongue, the language of Serpents, it's a rare gift in my world that allows us to communicate with reptiles, most notably snakes, in their own tongue. I thought I felt safe with you more than the others for some reason, Speakers, like me, instinctually seek out snakes to a degree for safety. Though many see it as a dark gift, a mark of evil. Least we can have private girl talk?~**

Carmilla gave her a smile as Martel surprisingly returned it with one of her own.

"Looks like I got a hatchling to look after Boss, she speaks snake." Martel joked, liking the kid even more than previously.

"Good for you Martel, Carmilla, why don't you write down everything you know about your magic later for me to read, along with some of your books, and let Martel introduce you to everyone. I have some paperwork to go over. Oh, and write down anything you think I need to know." The sin ordered, walking over to his desk in dismissal

* * *

When Martel led Carmilla back into the bar, the patrons had been cleared out, and only ten people remained, all looking at her.

One was Roa and the other was Dolcetto, who she waved to.

"All right, everyone," Martel barked, her hand on Carmilla's shoulder.

"This is Carmilla Kimblee; she's one of us now. Anyone who's got a problem with it goes through me." the snake chimera warned, glaring at everyone.

"Just who is this kid?" a short male with a long lizard tail asked, his black eyes friendly as he looked at her. 

"That's her story to tell, but everyone, Greed would like it if you'd tell her what kind of chimera you are, she's good," Martel told the male.

"Well kid," Dolcetto called out as he sat at the bar, "I'm Dolcetto, as you know, I'm a dog chimera. So I've got this annoying canine sense of loyalty."

Next was Roa, "Name's Roa, I was mixed with a bull."

The lizard tailed man was next, "I'm Bido, I was mixed with several lizards."

Then a woman with brown hair and grey eyes spoke, "I'm Tina, I was mix with a cat."

A muscled male with a blond mohawk and sharp teeth spoke next, "I'm Ulchi, crocodile."

The rest stated that they wanted to get to know her first before telling her.

"Thank you for your trust; I'm a witch if it helps. Black cats, wands, brooms, pointy hats?" Carmilla smiled, pulling out her wand and lifting a table.

This made Bido light up with child-like innocence, approaching her and offering to show her around.

"Thanks, Bido, I'd like that," Carmilla answered him, feeling like she'd come home for the first time in her life among those who others would have hated for existing.

She would come to find that she found her family over the next several years. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Carmilla may seem a bit too open with Greed, but she's putting faith in Truth, may not be her best idea but she finds it better than being completely lost in a new world.


	7. Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, quick note, I mentioned in the Author's note in chapter one that Kimblee had 03's eyes right? Well, I expanded on this. He has the appearance of 03 but has Brotherhood's personality.
> 
> I always liked the more warrior-like appearance of 2003 Kimblee but hated his personality. Best of both.

1 year later

Carmilla grunted as Martel tossed her across the room, curling her body into a tight ball as she skidded across the floor. 

"Do better." the snake barked, eyes narrowed as Carmilla shakily got back to her feet, the other members of Greed's gang scattered about the make-shift training room wincing as Carmilla rushed the other woman only to be tossed over Martel's shoulder and planted harshly on her back.

"Shit!" Carmilla gasped as the wind was knocked out of her, panting on the ground as Martel gave a frustrated hiss.

"We've been over this before Mila; you need to be fluid, not stiff. You were the one who asked for this." the chimera growled, angry that student/sister who hadn't made any progress in the last three months they'd been doing this.

Carmilla flinched at the frustration at her voice, unsure what to do.

"Martel, she can't help it if she's not ready," Dolcetto called out from the sidelines, smelling the unease and slight fear coming off the younger combatant. 

Even with the year that Carmilla had been with them, she still couldn't handle it when one of them was angry enough for it to show. 

Hearing the reproachful tone in the sword wielder's voice, Martel looked down sharply at Carmilla, whose eyes were focused on the ground after she'd rolled over onto her stomach, shoulders tense.

"Oh shit, I'm not mad with you Mila," Martel swore, kneeling in front of her to look her in the eye, "I'm mad with myself, I can't figure out how to help you kid, and it bugs me," she assured, holding out her hand to help Carmilla up, the thirteen-year-old nodding stiffly as she took her hand.

"I know that Mar, I just...shit you'd think I'd be over this shit by now," Carmilla muttered as Bido ran over with a bottle of water.

"Pup, you'll always have issues with people being angry, there's no shame in it. Why don't you go talk with the Boss, he mentioned he might have found something you'd like to know." Dolcetto assured, ruffling her hair.

In the past year, they'd all come to adore the preteen who'd come to them and found that she flourished under their care. Already she was a much healthier weight than the 75 pounds she'd been and had mastered the basics of hand to hand.

And she absorbed knowledge like a sponge, able to recite her books in word verbatim if challenged.

"Okay Dol, maybe we'll do better tomorrow, Mar?" Carmilla questioned as she looked to her sister.

"Not tomorrow, Greed needs me to go check on a rival gang. They've been encroaching on our turf, so I'll be a few days." the snake stated, shaking her head and receiving a frown in response.

"Be careful, Mar, promise?"

"Promise, now go see what Greed wants."

"Understood."

Carmilla ran off, waving goodbye to her friends/family, and took the stairs to the bar two at a time as she rushed to Greed's office.

Knocking on the door, she entered without waiting for an answer.

"You needed me, Greed?" she questioned as she spotted Greed frowning at some papers on his desk.

"Milla, doll, good timing, this was getting boring." the sin greeted, motioning for her to approach his desk.

"What's that? Looks like the blueprints to a building," she asked, eyeing the papers, unable to read them as they were upside down.

"They are, these are the schematics to Central's military prison, where your old man is." Greed told her, frowning at the papers.

Carmilla stilled, looking at him in confusion. Why would...oh.

"You plan to break him out?" 

"You need an alchemy teacher, who better than your old man?" the sin shrugged, making her sigh.

"Not even considering the fact that 1, he doesn't know about me and may not want to pass on his secrets, child or not. And 2, we don't know why he's in prison, to begin with?" 

Carmilla stated with a look.

She'd heard the stories of what her father did in Ishval from Dol, how he cleared entire sections of the territory with this alchemical explosions, and how he'd apparently killed his squad and superiors without cause. He hadn't wanted to have her build false ideas about the man.

She didn't care that he killed thousands with his alchemy; he was a soldier during a time of war; it was his job. His supposed crime didn't either since they didn't know the reasons behind the slaughter, 

But it did make her think about what she wanted with her alchemy. She could do the basics, but she was at the point that she required a teacher to further her skills, and the only Alchemist in the area was the butcher's wife Izumi Curtis, who refused to take her on as a student.

Not that Carmilla blamed her, Mrs. Curtis was suffering from an illness that made her throw up blood when stressed. So they'd agreed that while Mrs. Curtis couldn't, wouldn't, teach her, she'd still be a sounding board for Carmilla's alchemical theories.

It also helped that Carmilla began brewing pain-relieving and blood replenishing potions for the woman.

Why? Because Carmilla learned that the older woman had committed the taboo in an attempt to bring back her dead child and lost parts of her internal organs, her womb specifically. Carmilla respected what the mother had attempted, though it was foolish, and let her in on the fact that Carmilla was a witch from another world.

That had lead to Greed meeting the woman who warned the sin (unaware that anything she did wouldn't be permanent) that if anything happened to the child now in his care, the Alchemist would show him unimaginable pain.

This also led to the Devil's Nest getting a discount on large orders of quality meats since Carmilla took over the kitchen.

The bar had never had higher numbers in profit. 

Carl, a bat chimera with pale green eyes, wasn't a bad cook, it's just that being a chimera changed his taste buds.

Carmilla loved cooking for her family, so cooking for work didn't bug her, as it was her way of taking care of her new family.

Speaking of the other chimera in her family, the ones that unlike Martel, Dolcetto, Roa, and Ulchi, couldn't pass for ordinary humans anymore, they fell in love with Carmilla for the enchanted jewelry she made for them.

Earrings that placed a glamor and Notice-Me-Not combination on the wearer so they could rejoin the public. The glamor gave them there old appearances, the Notice-Me-Not spell covering for the abnormal feel of there skin, or in Bido's case, his tail.

It was hard, as the spells had to be renewed every time the simple silver studs were worn since Carmilla didn't have the experience to cast the enchantments permanently, but well worth it.

"Yes, I know this, but right now, we need a non-military associated alchemist on the team. Who better than a prisoner who's been on death row for the last several years?"

Greed asked, raising his brow when Carmilla snorted.

"And what are we supposed to do, huh? If we break him out, then the military will report it so he can be dragged back and executed with us as collateral. So let's hold off on that front, for now, we can focus on my magic and combat skills. Mrs. Curtis,"

"You know she's told you to call her Izumi,"

"Mrs. Curtis," Carmilla continued like he hadn't interrupted her, "has said multiple times that to train in alchemy, one must have a honed body as well as mind. From what Dolcetto has said about my father's alchemy, there's probably a slight rebound from the sheer force of his explosions; I do not believe that I am ready for the strain that'd put on my body. I've observed that magic and alchemy are like a muscle in a way, do too much too soon, and you'll strain or pull it."

Greed sighed in annoyance, knowing that Carmilla was probably right.

He just hated that he could do more for the child he viewed as his daughter, he'd offered her money, gifts, anything and everything a girl could want, but she refused them all, saying that she had enough in that they were her family.

"Fine, but I'm giving it a year before we do it."

"Two"

"Milla"

"Greed, the fastest path is not always the best. Two years, all I ask." 

Greed grimaced at her tone, damn her puppy eyes; he didn't even have to see them for them to work.

"Fine."

"Thank you, was this all?"

"Yes, did Martel kick your ass again?" he questioned, knowing how her spars with the snake woman usually played out.

"Yes, and she's frustrated because we've reached a block. I haven't improved in three months." Carmilla complained, rubbing her sore shoulder while Greed shrugged, "Can't help ya there, kid, being a homunculus I've never had to train."

"Yes, because you can just turn your ass shiny and avoid all damage. Ya know, I have a theory of a potential weakness you could have," she stated as she stretched, remembering that Martel told her stretching after a workout would prevent her from being too sore. 

"What is it?"

"Well, what if someone is good at performing alchemy mid-combat, and they rearrange the carbon in your body while the shield is active."

"Go on," Greed pressed, she had a damn good eye for shit like this.

"The hardness of an object depends on the arrangement of the carbon atoms, right? Your shield makes your skin diamond-like because the carbon is arranged in that fashion, so what if your opponent rearranged the carbon to be as weak as possible? It's a simple transmutation if you're just going about the common understanding, deconstruction, and reconstruction route. I could do it with my limited skill, for instance."

Greed frowned, while someone having that level of skill would be rare to do it mid-combat, she did have a point.

"Right, I'll keep it in mind. The only people I'd really have to consider that a treat with is those who've seen the Truth, but I'll keep it in mind." the sin decided as he sent her on her way.

* * *

Martel felt slightly bad about lying to Carmilla, as she wasn't checking out a rival gang at all, she was to sneak into Central prison and find Kimblee.

Slipping pasted the guards was too easy, her serpentine body allowing her to move through the vents with ease, dropping into the warden's office after making sure the man was out. The office lights off, though it was no issue for her, she could easily see in the dim lighting from the hallway.

'Good, I should have about twenty minutes before the oaf returns.' she calculated, knowing from previous prevalence that the warden would leave at 9 pm for a half-hour late dinner at a local pub.

Finding the prisoner files, she quickly pulled out her target and found his cell number.

"Third floor, Block A, cell 303," she read, slipping the file back into place and jumping up into the vent, careful to close the vent cover before navigating her way up to the third floor.

Finding Kimblee's cell after that was easy, but the guards were a potential issue.

Or, they would be, if it wasn't for the fact she was armed with a fast-acting tranquilizer. It was merely a matter of aiming with a small blowpipe to deliver the poison.

Two sharp pricks and 30 seconds later, the guards were out, allowing for Martel to once again drop to the floor without a sound, take the key she'd swiped from the warden on his way out of the prison, and open the door.

Kimblee woke to the sound of his cell opening, jolting awake from battle induced light sleep, and stared at the woman who appeared before him.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked, not nearly in the mood to be pleasant like he usually would, gold eyes narrowing on the blond.

"Zolf J Kimblee, right?" the woman, clearly either military or mercenary with the way she held herself, barked.

"Who's asking?" The Crimson Alchemist responded, flashing the woman his tattooed palms as he sat up, not for the first time hating the fact that they kept his hands bound in wooden shackles to keep his palms far enough apart to prevent him using alchemy.

"I'm here on behalf of someone who's rather interested in you. Two someones actually. My Boss would like to extend an offer to get you out of here, though not at this moment." The woman stated, folding her arms across her chest.

'Well, this is interesting.' the Alchemist thought as he asked, "And the other?"

"I've heard that you never forget a face, during our time in Ishval." the woman began, confirming his belief that she was military.

"You an old friend from there?" Though, he doubted it, considering he didn't recognize her.

"We never met, but I heard of you. You didn't answer my question," she grunted, her blue-green eyes annoyed.

"That's right; I don't forget a face. Why do you ask?" Kimblee questioned as he folded his legs under him, he highly doubted she was there to kill him at this point.

"Fourteen years ago, did you meet a red-head with green eyes, named Lily Evans." Martel inquired, watching the Alchemist carefully. 

She would have missed the recognition flitting across his face if she hadn't.

"What's this about? You're oddly specific,"

"So you did,"

"I never said that,"

"But you do remember her; it was on your face," Martel smirked, making the man growl.

"Yes, I knew her, and I still remember her. We had a fun night of drinks and great sex. What does it matter? She can't be asking about little old me after what we did in Ishval, let alone the fact that we agreed it was a one night stand." Kimblee grunted out in frustration, fingers twitching in the desire to choke the infuriating woman before him.

"She isn't, but her daughter, _your_ daughter, is."

Kimblee's mind froze, eyes widening in shock, staring at the woman who pulled out two letters from her cargo pants.

"These are the letters left to my friend, Carmilla, from her mother and step-father, telling her about you. And they knew Carmilla is yours because her step-father was sterile." Martel told the man, handing over the copies of the letters, the originals kept on Carmilla's person at all times.

Kimblee took the letters, the top one being Lily's, and read through them quickly while Martel waited, this was the purpose of her visit after all.

To inform Kimblee that his daughter existed, and see how he'd take the information.

For his part, he didn't seem disbelieving of the multiple worlds exist part, after having used a Philosopher's Stone himself, it didn't surprise him.

He was an Alchemist; by that definition, he sought the Truth of all things, even if he was more focused on furthering his explosion alchemy. 

It was a shame that Lily was dead, she'd been one of the most interesting women he'd ever met, intelligent and beautiful in equal spades.

And he respected James for not only accepting a child that was his but dying for his family.

He'd always held a deep respect for those willing to die for their convictions, one of the reasons he'd killed his squad. 

Looking up from the letters to the woman who still hadn't given him her name, he asked, "You know Carmilla well; I take it?" 

"I wouldn't say I know everything about her, but in the year I've known her, I've come to care for her. She's a good kid, quick as a whip with a bit of a temper, but loyal to those she sees as hers. She says that she doesn't give a damn either way if you accept her or not, but it's obvious that she wants a family that loves her. She hasn't had the best life, and we've tried to fill that void, but we can only do so much hence why my Boss wants to break you out of here. Milla's made him promise not too for another two years, mostly like wants to find a teacher for herself instead of trying to force you. But we'd planned to let you know she exists for a few months now."

The woman informed him, her eyes promising pain if he hurt her.

Not that he would, Kimblee had never seen himself as a father, but he would be damned if he rejected his own child.

"Tell your Boss I'm interested, as for an alchemical teacher, you might want to look into the Freezing Alchemist, Isaac McDougal. He retired from what I heard after Ishval." Kimblee offered, shrugging off the woman's surprised look.

"You're going to accept this, just like that?" she questioned, curiosity coloring her tone.

"Yep, I knew Lilly was engaged; it was the reason we agreed it was a one night stand. You also have no reason to lie to me, even if you just wanted to get me to work for you. You'd then have to find a child to play the part, and that would be pointless when you could have just broken me out. I would have been indebted to you, and I repay my debts. You've got about ten to fifteen minutes before the next shift in the guard, so you better get going. I just have one question before you go, does my daughter know you're here? And again, you never said your name."

"Name's Martel," the woman said, turning to the door, "and no, she doesn't. This is us looking out for our own. I'll tell the Boss about McDougal." she stated as she left, locking the door behind her.

Kimblee laid back down, closing his eyes.

"Who'd think I'd be a father, the world has some serious irony," he muttered, wondering what Carmilla looked like, did she take after him, or her mother?


	8. Teacher

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The list for human bodies is mentioned in this chapter, and I looked it up on the Fullmetal wiki, where it mentioned that the list in relation to the real world, is actually wrong and gives the actual list of the human make-up. I combined the lists to keep the canon list relevant.

Let it be said that Carmilla was pissed off when she found out about Martel's real mission, thanks to Bido, who couldn't lie to save his life.

Upon learning that Martel had snuck into Central's military prison with copies of her parent's letters to give to Kimblee, despite the fact that her father had apparently taken the news better than she could have imagined and even recommended a teacher for her, she'd stormed into Greed's office and given the sin a piece of her mind.

Her family had winced at the sheer volume of her rant, and the ones who had better hearing like Dolcetto cringed at the sound of breaking objects.

When Carmilla had left the office, looking like a hurricane had hit, they all backed away from her and refused to make eye contact.

"Men," she'd muttered under her breath as she approached Martel and Tina, the only other women in her makeshift family.

"Everyone knows that women are the ones who really hold the power kitten, but I think I'll leave you two to talk." Tina purred, fluffing up Carmilla's hair as she passed, likely going to pester Dolcetto.

Martel and Carmilla sat in silence for a few moments at the bar, the Nest closed for the day, gauging the other's temperament.

"I'm not going to apologize, you know," Martel grunted, nursing a glass of whiskey, to break the ice.

"I know," Carmilla sighed, rubbing at her temples, "I don't even care that you went. I just wish that you and Greed would have been honest with me. Sure, I would have liked to tell my father about everything myself, but I also would have taken forever to even try if Greed hadn't taken the initiative. And we would have never have gotten a lead on a teacher for me either." 

Carmilla informed the snake chimera as Bido came up with a soda for her. 

"Thanks, Bi," she told him as he smiled at her, "No problem Milla, could you re-charm my earring?" he requested, holding out the silver stud.

With a nod and a quick wave of her wand, she handed the stud back to Bido, who put it on, his mottled skin turning a healthy tan and his tail disappearing.

"Thank you, I need to place an order with the Curtis'," Bido explained as he ran out the door, leaving Martel and Carmilla with smiles.

"He doesn't need to thank me every time, I like helping," Carmilla said fondly as she turned her gaze back to Martel, "Did Kimblee really just accept that I'm his daughter, just from the letters?"

"Yep, apparently he knew that Lilly was engaged to James, they must have talked about it at some point during their time together, so that was enough for them. It surprised me too, and that he recommended a teacher for you that seems so different from his alchemical research."

Martel shrugged as she downed her whiskey before refilling her glass.

"It might be because in the end, because of how specialized father's alchemy is, he believes that it might be too difficult to teach without his direct instruction. This McDougal is called the Freezing Alchemist, so his alchemy must involve water, and I doubt it's just freezing water. Water can freeze and boil at the same temperature if you know how to do it. So while he's called Isaac the Freezer, I'd be willing to bet that he did more than just that in Ishval. Steam explosions, for instance, can burn the body quite badly. Then you can take into account that the human body is made out of roughly 70% water."

Carmilla explained, taking out a notebook she kept on her at all times for any thoughts she had on alchemy or magic, writing down everything she'd just said while also sketching out rough diagrams of the human body. 

"Thus everyone is material for alchemical arrays in this fashion, could be that Kimblee is thinking versatility in this case and not the difficulty." Martel guessed as she looked over the information.

"Yep, but this could also be a way to dip into his alchemy, the human body is made up like this to this world's knowledge: Water 35L, Carbon 20kg, Ammonia 4L, Lime 1.5kg, Phosphorous 800g, Salt 250g, Saltpeter 100g, Sulfur 80g, Fluorine 7.5g, Iron 5g, Silicon 3g, and fifteen traces of other elements."

Carmilla explained causing Martel's eyes to widen,

"This worlds? Is it different back on Earth?"

"Slightly, or it is right and humans of Amestris as I like to refer to this world as are slightly different from humans on Earth. Earth's human make-up is this: Oxygen 43kg, Carbon 16kg, Hydrogen 7kg, Nitrogen 1.8kg, Calcium 1kg, Phosphorus 0.78kg, Potassium 0.14kg, Sulfur 0.14kg, Sodium 0.10kg, Chlorine 0.095kg, Magnesium 0.019kg, then you have the other list on the top of this."

Carmilla listed, idly noting that Greed had joined them, standing before them behind the bar.

"So the list of a human is actually is water, carbon, ammonia, lime, phosphorous, salt, saltpeter, sulfur, fluorine, iron, silicon, Hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, potassium, sodium, chlorine, and magnesium. Wonder if that's why human transmutation fails, other than the fact you can't forge a soul." the sin muttered, rather curious. 

"It's possible, but I think that it would fail anyway because we aren't meant to create life through alchemy. Look what it takes to make a homunculus and the Philosopher's Stone, to make even a red stone as you explained, it takes at least fifty humans, and a homunculus is made through the stone itself. Back to my original point, I guess that my father is aware of the magnesium, Hydrogen, and nitrogen within the body. Wasn't he known to turn people into live bombs during the war? Those three have flammable properties. In fact, I think magnesium is used in explosives, and Hydrogen is explosive if exposed to flame."

Carmilla told them, pulling out another notebook, smaller than the other, and able to fit in a pocket, flipping it open.

"I'm right, Magnesium metal and its alloys are explosive hazards; they are highly flammable in their pure form when molten or in powder or in ribbon form. Burning or molten magnesium metal reacts violently with water. Father probably charges the trace metals in the human body." Carmilla muttered, making the other two smile.

Carmilla had thrown herself into her studies after Izumi had pointed out how much her non-magical studies had suffered when explaining some essential alchemical tips. Because of this lack, Carmilla had been horrified and used her photographic memory to her advantage. But to keep everything fresh, she carried several small notebooks of references, such as the notebook she was currently reading that explained everything about every element on the periodic table.

"Well then, your theory about this being a dip into your father's alchemy may be right considering how magnesium and water apparently don't mix." Greed said, pouring himself a glass of bourbon.

"Indeed, do we have any idea where McDougal was last seen? Aside from Central, where he probably resigned from." Carmilla asked curiously, receiving a frown in return.

"No, but it's only been a few days. I'd said it'll be a month before we get any leads." Greed told her, making her nod.

"I wouldn't be surprised if it took at least three, I need to take Mrs. Curtis her next batch of potions, I'll ask her if she'd heard anything about him."

Carmilla said as she slid off her barstool, running to her potions/alchemical lab in the basement.

Her lab was 15x20 room that she'd alchemically reinforced to prevent from collapsing from explosions caused by potions. She'd also added vents heading to the surface to avoid fumes from harming anyone after she'd put Dolcetto in a mini coma one time. 

Dolcetto's nose coming back to bite him in the ass, he'd walked in while she was brewing a pain reliever for Izumi, and while she'd had a bubblehead charm over her head to keep the fumes from bothering her, the dog chimera had taken one sniff and passed out with a "Shit that stinks!". 

He was out from 'death by nose' for three days after they shoved lavender under it by Izumi's recommendation, though she'd nearly hacked up a lung from laughing first when a panicked Carmilla had rushed to her.

No one in the Devil's Nest had been of any help because they were either a) dying of laughter or b) trying to avoid the same fate as the poor dog.

Shaking her head at the memory, Carmilla grabbed the potions and made her way to Curtis Meats.

* * *

Carmilla opened the door to the shop with a grunt, the bell ringing to announce her arrival and to greet the mountain of muscle that was Sig Curtis.

"Hey, Mr. Curtis, how's Mrs. Curtis today?" she called out to the serious-looking man who gave her a smile.

"Hello Carmilla, Izumi's doing better thanks to your potions. And we've told you to call us by name. It's just Sig." the man greeted, gently patting her head.

"I know, I know, it's just that...I respect you too much just to call you by name." Carmilla sighed, smiling at the gesture.

"Still, call us by name, it'd make Izumi happy," Sig told her as he led her behind the counter to the master bedroom, seeing the way Carmilla frowned in concern.

"Bedridden again? I can increase the dosage if needed." Carmilla asked, opening the door to reveal Izumi sitting up in the bed, a warm smile on the strict woman's face.

"I'm fine, just feeling a bit weak today. It's hard enough for you to get ingredients for your potions as is, don't waste them on me." Izumi assured her, making Carmilla sigh.

"You're not a waste, Izumi," Carmilla told the woman, whose eyes widened at the use of her name, "What happened to Mrs. Curtis?" Izumi asked, mirth filling her tone.

"Everyone keeps going on about how you gave me permission to use your names, and how I should take it." Carmilla shrugged, pouring a dose of the pain reliever into a glass by the table.

"It's about time is all I can say, how are things at the Nest?" 

"They're good, we're still looking for a teacher, but we have a lead. Actually wanted to ask you about them, if you'd heard anything." 

Izumi grimaced as she downed the potion, the tension in her shoulders waning as the potion did its work, handing the glass back to Carmilla, who filled it with the dose of blood replenisher.

"Disgusting as usual, but far better than the shit they've got on the market for pain. Whose this Alchemist you're looking into?" Izumi asked, curious as to what kind of Alchemist Carmilla had found.

"Well, they're a former State Alchemist, they resigned right after Ishval and haven't been seen since. Isaac the Freezer was his handle." Carmilla told her pseudo-teacher who frowned.

"A Dog of the Military, huh, least this one had the sense to leave," Izumi muttered, a dark look in her eyes.

Carmilla still didn't know why Izumi hated the military the way she did, save for the fact that 'alchemists are for the people.'

"Yes, but please remember that Kimblee is a Dog of the Military as well," 

"Indeed, sorry, as for this Isaac, Honey, didn't we hear about a former State Alchemist joining the anti-military group. Those morons who want to tear the military apart?" Izumi called out to her husband, who poked is head into the room.

"Yes, one of their recruiters had come here asking about you a little over a year ago, didn't they?" Sig recalled, wondering why she was asking.

"Carmilla is looking into a former State Alchemist to be her teacher, Isaac the Freezer. I don't know if the Alchemist they were referring to is him, but you might want to look into it." Izumi told her pseudo-student, who nodded.

"I'll tell Greed, one of the reasons it's been so hard to find me a teacher other than you is because we don't want a teacher associated with the military in any way."

Carmilla said as she placed the corks back in both potion bottles.

"Now, since it seems that you're still having issues with the pain levels, you can take a double dose once a day if needed. Just send word if you need anything, I'm working on mastering more healing related potions. With luck, I'll master Skele-Gro soon. I could give you some Pepperup potions too, to help if your feeling tired." she told the bedridden woman who nodded.

"Skele-Gro?"

"I've had to use it once, a fraud of a teacher banished all the bones in my right arm from the elbow down, had to regrow them using Skele-Gro. Its typical use is to accelerate the mending of broken bones."

Izumi's face darkened at this, "What the hell? How'd a fraud like that get a teaching position?!" 

"No idea, the guy also gave me the chills with the way he'd stare at me. I wrote it off as it being that I was famous and shit, but looking back on it after what happened when I arrived in Dublith, I wonder if he'd been planning something. He was never really alone with me, so he never got the chance. Even when I was in detention with him, there were portraits that were watching." Carmilla shrugged, she was over it now, but looking back, Lockhart had the marks of a pedophile.

Sig's teddybear persona dissapeared at that moment, the serious-but-friendly look replaced with the look of a man possessed with murder.

"Sig, I'm fine, I promise. And look at it this way, now I can defend myself from almost anything you can think of thanks to you and Izumi. Not to mention, Greed would rather give away everything to charity before allowing me to be hurt." 

Carmilla assured (while back at the bar Greed shuddered and sneezed, someone had just used 'Greed' and 'Charity' in the same sentence) as she handed him the potion bottles.

"Just be careful, we don't want to see you hurt Milla," Sig muttered, pulling her into a hug he knew his wife would have loved to do herself.

After a few moments of having the stuffing squeezed out of her, Carmilla tapped his arm for him to let go.

"I know, that's why I'm furthering my knowledge after all," she said as she skipped out the door, leaving the couple to look at each other and smile.

"If our child had made it, I hope he'd be just like her," Izumi said softly, her hand resting on her stomach.

"I do, too, honey, I do too."

* * *

It would be three months before they found the anti-military encampment, two more before Greed was able to bribe the leader with illegal weapons they'd taken from other gangs in and around Dubltih to send the former State Alchemist who was, indeed, Isaac McDougal, to the Devil's Nest.

The day that McDougal was to arrive, they shut down the bar early and put Dolcetto and Roa on guard duty.

This led to a day of extreme boredom on the chimeras' part, until around noon when three cloaked figures appeared, one holding out the Devil's Nest matchbook and muttering, "We were told that your boss would be waiting for us?"

Dolcetto took the matchbook and nodded, "Yep, follow me to the office." the dog chimera barked, leading the men into the bar and to the office.

Inside Greed and Carmilla waited, the latter sitting at the desk and writing down the result of an experiment she'd performed trying to combine alchemy and magic when three sharp knocks sounded on the door.

"Come in," Greed ordered, lounging on one of the couches with a copy of McDougal's military file in his lap.

Dolcetto walked in with the men, standing behind his boss and eyeing Carmilla, who waved, not looking up from her writing, and announced.

"These are the men from the anti-military faction."

Greed looked to the cloaked figures and greeted them, "Welcome to the Devil's Nest boys; this is my guard Dolcetto. The girl isn't any of your business. Now, you're here for the weapons we have," he trailed, waiting for them to take their cloaks off.

"Yes, you wish to help our cause?" the man on the left said, revealing blond hair and green eyes, his eyes lit with a fanatical light that Greed had never liked seeing.

"Hell no, but you have something we want." Greed barked in laughter as he took in the other two, the one on the far right being as uninteresting as the blond.

The middle man, however, was interesting, he was of average height but fairly muscular, more so than Dolcetto, with long black hair tied back into a low ponytail save for one strand that hung over his face. He had deep lines on his face from stress and ice blue colored eyes. He was wearing his former State Alchemist uniform with a great deal of wear and tear. This was the man they were after, Carmilla's gaze drifting up to her potential teacher.

"What is it you want then? War?" the man asked, his voice raspy as his eyes narrowed in anger.

"Not at all, everyone save for the girl is former soldiers from Ishval, isn't that right, Dol?" Greed said hands held up in surrender as Dolcetto nodded.

"You'll get your weapons, what we want is for McDougal to teach the girl," Dolcetto answered the man, pointing to Carmilla, who looked up.

"Why should I teach this kid anything? I have work to do." McDougal grunted, looking to the girl who moved to sit beside Greed.

"I have a bit of talent, but I've reached the point that I can't continue without a teacher. We've been trying to find an Alchemist that isn't associated with the military for a while now, with no luck. Then we contacted my father who's in Central's military prison, he recommended you."

McDougal took a closer look at the girl, the information telling him that they had snuck into the prison to see the man.

Now that he really looked at her, he started seeing things that reminded him of an old war buddy, if he didn't know better, he'd say that she was the daughter of Kimblee, but that couldn't be right.

"Who's your father?" the Freezing Alchemist asked, staring into gold and green eyes.

"The Crimson Lotus Alchemist," she began, watching his eyes widen, "Zolf J Kimblee. Martel, another of our group, focuses on infiltration. She snuck in to tell him about me, and he recommended you, Isaac McDougal. You don't have to teach me, we all agreed that you'd get the guns anyway. But please consider it." the girl said, leaning into Greed's side.

"You can't be serious, why not just break the Crimson Alchemist out if you want a teacher." The blond beside Isaac demanded, and Greed chuckled.

"Because that isn't an option, we could do it, yes, and we'd bring the military down on us. There is also the fact that both Major Kimblee, and Milla here, agree that she is not ready to learn his alchemical secrets. But he holds a high opinion of your pal here. Thus we reached out."

Greed explained, running his hand through Carmilla's hair, who put up with the action.

"I'll do it, I owe Kimblee the favor," McDougal stated after several minutes of silence.

"McDougal," the blond hissed only to receive a glare from the Alchemist.

"Stand down, Kimblee gained favor from me back in Ishval, and if he's recommending for his daughter to come to me, I will pay him back." 

Carmilla smiled at his answer, "Thank you, Mr. McDougal, my name is Carmilla. It'll be an honor to learn from you." she said as she stood, giving him a bow.

"Just call me Isaac or teacher, not one for formality kid." Isaac grunted, "Do you have a lab? I'd like to go over what you know." 

"I do, it's downstairs if we have permission to leave Greed?" Carmilla asked, looking to the sin who waved them off.

"Go on, we can finish the weapons deal without you. McDougal, you hurt her and they'll never find your body."

Isaac took the threat seriously, the look in both Greed and Dolcetto's eyes telling him they meant every word.

"It's this way, Teacher," Carmilla chirped from her place by the door, looking back at him in order to make sure he was following.

"Right, lead the way." 

What did he just get himself into, no, what did Kimblee get him into? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter we jump to episode one of fma brotherhood!


	9. First Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got McDougal's eyes wrong, watching the first episode of Brotherhood as I wrote this made me notice that McDougal's eyes aren't ice blue but a greenish color. I'm just going to keep them as blue for the sake of the story.
> 
> As for a question I got from ZakktheDM, their comment being  
> "Not gonna lie, I'm getting very similar vibes from Carmilla and Edward and I'm excited to see if 1) they interact and 2) they bud heads and or become romantically involved"
> 
> I do not know if I'll have Ed and Carmilla end up together, it'll depend on how the story writes itself. They will interact, and they will but heads because of their different philosophies.  
> I do intend for them to be friends.
> 
> Carmilla finally meets her father!   
> Again, don't count on him being cannon, though I'll try my best.

Carmilla followed her Teacher of two years into Central, sticking to the alleyways as they made their way around the city.

"This is where we part; it's been an honor." The Freezing Alchemist said as he turned to her, his blue eyes holding a fondness for the girl.

Carmilla, now fifteen, smiled at the man. Thanks to the man before her, she'd furthered her alchemy by leaps and bounds, mastering as much as she could.

"The honor is mine, Teacher. Are you sure about this? You'll probably die." She asked him, taking the book he held out to her, knowing it was his research notes and tucking it into her trench coat.

"I know that, but unless I try, this entire country is doomed," Isaac told her, making her nod.

"I wish you well, Teacher. I'll draw the transmutation circles near the prison; they won't think of looking for me." She said, turning to walk away.

"No, I'll handle the circles, this is my mission, not yours. Just focus on your mission," he called out to her as he kneeled, pulling out chalk to draw the array.

Carmilla paused for a moment, listening to the sound of chalk on stone, before continuing on her path.

'I'll wait for the fireworks to begin, once the soldiers are focused on finding Teacher, it'll be easier to sneak in,' she thought, staring at the prison from an alley across from the main entrance.

She wasn't happy that this would be the last time she'd see Isaac, knowing that the chances of him making it out of Central alive were next to zero.

The thought of losing someone so close to her that she considered a member of her make-shift family, hurt.

But Isaac made his choice, he was willing to die for his convictions, and she had to respect that, no matter how much she wished he wouldn't.

Several hours later she heard alarm bells ring through the air, signaling that Isaac had been spotted, and groaned when more soldiers appeared. 

'Damn, I was hoping that more of them would go after Teacher. Instead, they're showing up here.'

Hearing someone sneak up behind her, she spun, pulling her combat knife out of her boot sheath, and held the knife to her stalker's throat.

"Good reflexes, but I expected you to be long gone by now," Isaac commented, glaring down at her, his hand on her wrist to keep the blade away from his neck.

"Well, considering that more soldiers showed up then I expected, forgive me," she grunted, resheathing her knife as she looked back to the gates.

Issac took in the soldiers and hissed, knowing that despite how skilled Carmilla had become at both using her pre-drawn transmutation circles and drawing them mid-combat, she was no match for the ten soldiers right in front of the gate and the no doubt numerous guards inside.

"You look like you've been through the wringer, run into trouble, Teacher?" Carmilla questioned, taking in the bruising on his face. 

"Another State Alchemist, the Fullmetal Alchemist Edward Elric."

Carmilla's eyes narrowed at the statement, "The boy who got his certification at twelve?"

"Yes, he didn't need to use transmutation circles, as the rumors said. Now let's get you inside," Isaac grunted, rushing the soldiers and killing them via boiling the water in their bodies.

Following after her mentor, not even blinking as she killed a soldier who tried to tackle her by freezing him, her transmutation circle in the form of a necklace, the circle settled in the hollow of her throat.

Taking life didn't bother her, not after the stone incident in her first year, it was a simple equation to her according to the rule she lived by, Survival.

If killing someone ensured that either she or the people she cared about lived another day, then she would kill without hesitation. 

Her Teacher told her she would have made a good soldier with that mentality.

Reaching the third floor, they rushed the two guards, Isaac freezing one while she killed the other before standing outside Kimblee's cell.

"Kimblee, it's been a long time," Isaac greeted, calling out to the man behind the cell door.

"Isaac the Freezer, is that you I hear out there?" the prisoner's voice called out, raspy like her Teacher but in a different way.

"You sent me one hell of an apprentice, that daughter of yours," Isaac smirked, looking to Carmilla, who snorted under her breath.

"Carmilla found you did she, what's she like?" Kimblee's voice sounded genuinely curious to her ears, making her smile.

"You can find that out after we get you out of here, Father," she spoke up, motioning for Isaac to stand back as she pulled out her wand.

* * *

Kimblee heard the sound of fighting, sitting upon his cot as rapid footsteps approached his cell.

He almost thought he picked out the sound of two sets, but one was much quieter than the other. 

The tell-tale thud of a body dropping told him one guard's fate, though he was unsure of the second guard.

"Kimblee, it's been a long time," a voice called out, older but unmistakable.

"Isaac the Freezer, is that you I hear out there?" he asked in delight, he wondered if Carmilla had ever met up with the man. He hoped so.

"You sent me one hell of an apprentice, that daughter of yours," his old friend stated, amusement coloring his tone.

Again, he thought he heard the signs of a second person, but he wasn't sure.

"Carmilla found you did she, what's she like?" he asked curiously, wondering what his fellow Alchemist thought of his daughter.

What he heard next had his amber eyes widening in shock.

"You can find that out after we get you out of here, Father," a female voice called out, making him stand up.

"Carmilla?" Kimblee called out, he hadn't thought that Isaac would bring her to him.

"Yes, stand as close to the walls as you can, I'm going to blow the door," Carmilla answered him sending a rush of emotion through him as he plastered himself to the wall as best he could, calling out that he was clear of the door.

"Bomdarda!" His daughter barked, the door flying across the room to nearly imbed itself in the wall across from it.

Coughing at the dust cloud produced by the action he walked out of the cell, eyes stinging at the increased light for a few moments before he took in the first sight of his child.

She was about 5/1 with long pitch-black hair, dual-colored eyes, and pale skin much like his own, dressed in a black trench coat with a muscle shirt under it and shorts, a transmutation circle resting in the hollow of her throat he recognized as the one for Isaac's alchemy.

'She looks like her mother,' he thought as she approached him, pointing a stick at his shackles and saying "Alohomora", the shackles falling from his wrists to the ground with a thud.

"I'll explain later, let's get out of here," she said at his raised brow, knowing that what she'd just done wasn't alchemy in the slightest.

"Right, I'd imagine that we have a lot to speak of." Kimblee muttered, following the pair out of the prison.

* * *

Once they were outside Issac handed Kimblee the cloak he'd been wearing.

"This is where we part ways. If I make it out of this alive, I'll meet you back in Dublith." the Freezing Alchemist told them, but Carmilla knew she'd never see him again.

"Goodbye, Teacher," she whispered as she and her father ran in the opposite direction.

As the father/daughter pair made their way out of the city, Carmilla ran headfirst into a boy her age with golden hair and eyes.

"Sorry, you two need to get to safety," the boy said as a man in a suit of armor caught up with them, "Brother, you've got to be more careful! What if you hurt her!" the voice coming from the armor threw Carmilla for a loop, sounding far too young to fit in that armor, as she spotted a silver chain on the boy's pants.

"I'm fine, really, you must be the Fullmetal Alchemist from that watch," Carmilla said, surprised that he was her age,

"That's right," Fullmetal smiled, surprised that someone got it right for once,

"Name's Edward Elric, but seriously, you both need to get to safety, there's a terrorist on the loose, so go home," Edward said, helping Carmilla up.

"My daughter and I were just doing that, be careful yourself," Her father said, smiling at the younger Alchemist who nodded before running off, the man in armor following after him.

"So that's Edward Elric, Greed will be interested," Carmilla muttered as they moved into an alley, pulling out a pocket watch with a long fob chain. 

"Grab this, it's an enchanted object called a portkey, it teleports you from one place to another," she explained, waiting until her father had a grip on the chain before saying the password, "Devil's Nest"

Anyone passing by the alley would have seen them disappear without a trace, while they reappeared in the bar Carmilla called home.

Kimblee fell to his knees as the world kept spinning, never wanting to do that again, as a voice called out.

"Welcome to the Devil's Nest, Crimson Lotus Alchemist, Zolf Kimblee. I'm the owner of this bar, name's Greed."


	10. Answers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tell me how I did with Kimblee, I'll say right now that I doubt I can do his character justice. 
> 
> I will say that there is a video on youtube by Aleczandxr that analyzes Kimblee's character (Brotherhood) that I use regularly for reference to Kimblee's character. I also kind of quote one of the comments on the video, by Sleepy Scarecrow Productions
> 
> Check it out, it's really good.
> 
> Note, Kimblee only killed his superiors in cannon, but I expanded to his squad as well.

Greed stared down at the fugitive that was Carmilla's father with a sharp grin, knowing just how disorientating portkeys were from personal experience.

"Welcome to the Devil's Nest, Crimson Lotus Alchemist, Zolf Kimblee. I'm the owner of this bar, name's Greed." the sin greeted, once Kimblee had regained his bearings enough to look around.

The man was dressed in the cloak he'd last seen Isaac in, the Freezing Alchemist's absence not lost on him, and an off grey prison uniform. The man had slight stubble along his chin and his long black hair hanging around his form.

When amber eyes locked with his own wine-red, the homunculus smirked at him, showing off his sharp teeth.

"Owner? Is this where you've been staying?" the Alchemist asked, looking to Carmilla, who nodded, moving to stand off to Greed's left with Martel.

"Yep, Greed took me in three years ago, you recognize Martel," Carmilla gestured to the snake chimera who snorted as she pointed to each of the other three in the room, "the others are Roa, Dolcetto, and Ulchi. The others are in the back, I assume?" she asked, turning her gaze to Greed, seeing the man nod.

"Yeah, they're shy at the moment," the sin grinned, making Kimblee feel like they were in on some kind of joke when he spotted a familiar tattoo on the man's hand, eyes narrowing.

"Now, let's go over some things," Greed said, his grin disappearing in an instant as he turned his gaze to the Alchemist, "I don't really give a damn that you're Carmilla's father, you try to screw us over, you die. You hurt her, you die. I know that you're aware of what homunculi are from that look. I have no affiliation with the others or our creator. Any loyalty you had for them? Drop it."

Kimblee moved to sit in a chair across from the homunculus who sat at the bar.

"I see, don't really have any reason to stay loyal to them, so long as I can keep this," Kimblee paused, pressing his hand to his stomach and opening his mouth to reveal a Philosopher's Stone on his tongue, "and do mostly as I please, I'm yours. As for hurting my daughter, I'll be damned before I harm my own child." 

Greed stared at the stone for a moment, as did Carmilla, before answering, "I have no need of a Stone, so sure. That's a neat trick by the way, why reveal you have it?" 

Kimblee shrugged his shoulders, there wasn't really a reason he felt to hide the Stone, and he'd have to reveal it eventually.

Greed took his silence as the answer before looking to Carmilla, "If you wish to talk alone, you can use the office." 

"Thank you, Greed, that may be wisest," she nodded as she looked to her father, "if you'll follow me?" she motioned, heading to said office before Greed spoke up, "Where's Isaac?"

Carmilla didn't look back at him, her shoulders tensing up, before continuing on her path, "He had a mission to complete, don't expect him to show back up. I told him it was suicide, but it didn't matter." 

Greed frowned at the evenness in her tone, knowing that the two had argued multiple times, to the point that Carmilla was yelling at her teacher, about his plans to attack central.

He'd need to check in with her later on it.

* * *

Kimblee found the office a comfortable space, a reasonable size with a mahogany desk, two leather couches, and two lounge chairs (also leather) with a table also made of mahogany in the center.

Carmilla walked over to the minibar and pulled out a bottle of whiskey, pouring a glass for her father before filling a glass with ice for herself.

Offering the whiskey to him, she sat in one of the chairs.

"Is there any place you want to start?" she asked, looking to him.

Kimblee sat silently for a few minutes, there were hundreds of places he could begin, but eventually, he decided.

"I think we should begin with what do you expect of me. I'm not going to be the perfect father, I never saw myself as one, but I am willing to be there for you. Nor do I think I'll be a very good one, I'm good at hiding my more hedonistic traits, but it doesn't change that I am not what people consider sane."

He stated matter-of-factly, causing her to nod.

"A good a place as any. I don't expect you to just drop everything and be 'father of the year,' for now, I think it'd be best for us to just ignore our relationship for the moment until we get a feel for the other. I don't trust humans, I'll say that right now. I've been hurt by them too much to just accept that you want to be there for me, whatever your intentions." she said bluntly, making his eyes narrow at the distinction.

"I take it that, in some way, no one downstairs was human then? And I'm fine with that. Just tell me what you feel comfortable with at the moment."

Kimblee assured her with a calm facade, but inside he was feeling the tale-tell signs of rage. It wasn't even the fact that it was his daughter telling him this at the moment, he never agreed with abuse of any kind, particularly child abuse, and she was giving off hallmarks of an abused child in her posture.

Carmilla stared at him for a moment before inclining her head.

"I suppose we should move on to just asking questions then, why did you kill your squad and superiors? I don't necessarily care that you killed them, I just want to know the 'why.'"

She prompted, leaning back in her chair after picking an ice cube out of her glass and started chewing on it.

For his part, he didn't seem too shocked that was her first question and answered in an even tone, "My superiors I killed because they were the only ones who knew about the Stone in my possession and because I knew I would be court marshaled for the deaths of my squad. One could say I killed them because I could. My squad, on the other hand, I killed because they were disrespecting a pair of humanitarian doctors that we were assigned to protect, the Rockbells, though it had been implied by my superiors that an accident with them would be nice. I don't know if I would have done it as they were dead when we arrived, and my squad saw fit to insult them. The husband was clutching the picture of their daughter, the Rockbells were in Ishval by their own choice. They died for their conviction to save as many lives as they could. I hold a deep respect for those that are willing to die for their cause."

Carmilla found herself agreeing with her father's reasoning about his squad.

"I agree, its why I didn't force Teacher to return with us. I wanted to, knowing that he was walking to his death, but we'd argued about it so much that I came to respect his choice. I also respect that type of conviction, after learning that my step-father died for me," Carmilla mumbled, waiting for him to ask his question.

"What is your philosophy in life? I am more of a nihilist as much as a philosopher myself. I tend to be of the 'nothing matters, so why not' kind of man than the 'nothing matters, so why' type." he asked, causing her to smile.

"I live by Survival, for the most part, anything I've ever done has been done to ensure that I survive another day. Now that includes ensuring those I see as mine survive. My father or not, if you become a threat to those who reside here, it won't be Greed who kills you." She warned, narrowing her eyes at him while he smirked.

"A reasonable threat, but like I told Greed, so long as I can mostly do as I please, I don't intend to harm anyone here." He swore, raising his hands toward her, palms out to reveal his transmutation circles tattooed on them. 

"I'll take your word on it, for now, you said that you weren't sane? I take it that you're either 1, a sociopath which would mean that you lack a conscience or understand the feelings of others. Though from what I've heard, you don't seem too terribly impulsive, you did say you can hide your less socially acceptable traits. Or, 2, you're psychopath, in which the difference between that and the former is that psychopaths can tend to be more physically violent or put others in danger. With your nihilism that you've mentioned, I'd guess its the former, right?"

She theorized, making him smile at her sharp mind.

"Either term works, but I would also include that I am amoral as well, things that other people find wrong, I don't have a problem with. Martel was right when she said you were 'quick as a whip' I see." he told her, making her smile.

"I wasn't always, but I've had three years without people trying to sabotage me to improve myself." She said sadly, her eyes darkening at the reminder of her so-called friends.

"I see, I hope you'll tell me someday. This world you and your mother are from, does alchemy exist there? And you don't have to refer to me as Father, just call me Zolf." he stated, changing the subject, causing her dual-colored eyes to light up.

"Not quite, or rather, I'm uncertain if alchemy back on Earth is like alchemy here, I rather doubt it, but we do have our own power. Magic, like the portkey and how I blew the cell door off its hinges or how I made the shackles unlock. Alchemy and Magic originate from the same source, the Gate of Truth, but they are in a balance of each other. Alchemy is...ridged I suppose is the best way to put it, it follows strict rules in order for it to work." Carmilla explained making Zolf nod in understanding.

"But magic is more fluid I take it?"

"Yes, it still follows equivalent exchange to a degree, but not to the extent of alchemy. For instance, the unlocking spell, Alohamora, from my research, manipulates the metal or air within the lock to force it open. Bombarda, the spell I used to blast the door, focuses air into concussive force. The water summoning spell, Aguamenti, condenses water from the air. I thought at first it drew water from the earth, but then I realized that it couldn't be all it was doing. The air in the area becomes dryer the longer you use it." She listed, pulling out her wand.

"This is my wand, like an alchemical array, it focuses the energy used to cast spells." 

"I see," Zolf muttered, "do you have any books that I could read. And Lilly's letter mentioned that there was a Philosopher's Stone back in your world, do you know if it's different from the Stone here?"

Carmilla shook her head at the question, "I have the books typically used to teach magic in my lab, but I don't know about the Stone of Earth. I came into contact with it when I was eleven, but that's a tale for later. From what I remember of the Stone I used to get here, the one made on Earth was different somehow. It was made by Earth's Nickolas Flammel, who used it to extend the lives of both his wife and himself, but they supposedly destroyed it after it was nearly stolen. Looking back on it I doubt they did, but I never paid attention to things that didn't directly affect me. Or, rather, my attention was diverted by a meddling old man I was willing to cross through the Gate to escape. The Stone may not have been created using humans as the energy source, I couldn't tell you for sure, however,"

Carmilla sighed, rolling her shoulders as she looked to him, "My next question, what do you want from me? We've discussed that I don't expect you to be 'father of the year', but we never covered what you'd like out of this, aside from that you'll try." 

"Right now, I want to get to know you, even if our relationship as father and daughter never develops, you have talent as an Alchemist from what Isaac mentioned, I'd like to see where you go. If we decide that we are better off as peers, so be it," Zolf said simply, folding his arms across his chest.

"Thus, you'd like to potentially pass on your alchemical secrets, very well, I can accept that. Next question?"

"I don't expect you to tell me everything right now, we're essentially strangers right now, but I must ask because your behavior implies it," Zolf began as she caught on to what he was about to ask,

"Was I ever abused?" she stated, making him nod as it was his question.

"As you said, we are strangers at the moment so I won't go into detail, but yes I was. I don't trust humans because of it. Maybe I'll trust you enough one day, but not now." 

Carmilla watched him carefully, catching the flash of anger in his eyes, but deciding to ignore it until she knew him better.

"What is your opinion of the other homunculi? You seem to be familiar with at least one of them," she inquired as she got up to refill her ice.

"I've really only interacted with one, Envy, but for the most part, I was loyal to them because they gave me the Stone, and didn't care what I did as long as I did my job in Ishval. I met Envy shortly after your mother and I went our separate ways, and Ishval was already brewing."

"So does Envy really look like a palm tree when they aren't disguised?" Carmilla asked just as he took a sip of his whiskey, making the man choke.

"*cough*, palm tree?" he repeated, having never thought of the analogy but realizing it fit the homunculus well.

"Yeah, Greed told me what the other homunculi looked like when I first arrived, and what they could do. The only one he didn't mention was Wrath, saying that when he left that one had yet to be created."

"I've only seen Envy undisguised once I think, but yes, calling them a palm tree fits rather well."

Zolf chuckled, he'd never be able to see Envy again without thinking about palm trees now.

"Is there any other questions you have Carmilla? I can't think of any for the moment," he asked the teen who shook her head.

"No, all I can think of at the moment is showing you to my library,"

"Library?"

"I keep my books and my lab separate, as it'd be a shame for my books to be destroyed since I can't replace them." Carmilla informed him as she stood, "Just keep in mind that aside from Greed, Martel, Roa, Ulchi, and Dolcetto, the rest of the gang can't pass for human,"

"What do you mean?" Zolf asked, following after her.

"To put it bluntly, they're all chimera save for Greed, he rescued them from a military lab several years ago. They got injured in Ishval and were selected for experimentation by the Brass. You'll have to ask them what they were bonded with." Carmilla shrugged as she led him downstairs into the basement, passing Dolcetto on their way.

"Everything good Pup?" the sword wielder asked, glaring at the former State Alchemist, hand resting on his katana.

"Everything's good Dol, just showing him to my library, tell Greed will you?" she smiled to the man who gave a sharp nod, still glaring at the man behind her.

"No problem, need to make a run to Curtis Meats, Ulchi got into the stock again," Dol grunted, Ulchi's carnivorous habits were such a pain at times. 

As he passed by he leaned in close to Zolf, whispering in his ear, "Don't you dare fuck up, you hurt her and you will have the slowest death possible, we clear?" 

Zolf was beginning to feel like a schoolboy getting scolded with all the threats, amusing as they were since he had no intentions of harming Carmilla, but nodded anyway.

Once they reached Carmilla's library he stared in shock at the towers of books in the room, spanning nearly every subject. 

"Sorry about the mess, but the books on magic are in the back left corner." She told him, rubbing the back of her head, she'd forgotten that she'd left the room a massive mess. 

"It's fine, the sword wielder," Zolf began, looking to the teen who raised a brow in question, "he's some sort of canine isn't he?" 

Carmilla snorted at the question, "What gave it away, the threats or that he called me Pup?" 

"Both, he also has the aura of a puppy." 

That made her giggle, "You have no idea, he complains about his 'canine sense of loyalty', but everyone knows he was loyal before being combined with I think was either a Shepherd or wolf."

Carmilla joked as she made a path to the area in question.

"Nothing leaves this room, there is a spell on the doors that will prevent my books from leaving the room without my permission. Even then, I have to be the one to remove the book and it will automatically return after 24 hours have passed. With that, knock yourself out," she told him, making her way to the door, glancing over her shoulder to see he was already reading a first year potion book as she left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> how did i do?


	11. New Sister

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carmilla goes to take out the Sewing Life Alchemist, ends up running into Hughes, the Elrics, and gets a new sister

**Important, please read, in chapter 6, Greed says that it's been ten years since he acquired his chimera, but the war in Ishval was from 1901 when Envy shot the child to 1908 when Bradley ordered the State Alchemists to Ishval, so I have a question, should I go back and fix this or just have you all keep in mind that from this point on, it's only been five years. Greed, in this, gets the gang in 1906 as I'm also changing that the State Alchemists were brought in at that point, thus in 1906, the State Alchemist go to war, and it lasts another two years until 1908.**

"This" is talking

'This' is thinking

" **this** " is parseltongue

" _this_ " is Truth

"this" is Nina

* * *

Its been two months since Zolf came to live in the Devil's Nest, and Carmilla was surprisingly happy with the development.

Things between her and Zolf were still rocky, yes, but there wasn't the awkwardness she'd expected there to be.

Instead, there was a comfortable distance between them, as they were still working out how much importance the other held, while still growing close enough that she didn't tense when he came within five feet of her.

This was surprising to the other residents of the bar, considering that Carmilla practically spits fire when humans got too close to her usually, her inherent distrust of humans as a whole obvious in her demeanor.

And while they did attempt to keep Carmilla away from the less legal side of things, Carmilla developed a surprising habit; she would abuse the hell out of the Notice-Me-Not spell and her portkey to Central to sneak into Central Command's files.

Why did she do this? Because she wanted to ensure that the military wasn't employing any Alchemists devoted to chimera research, the horror stories that were told by her family about the experiments performed on them pissing her off more than you could imagine. 

She'd also learned that the more inhuman chimera, those who didn't make it out of the lab, complained of constant pain that made many of them choose to starve to death or figure out a way to kill themselves for the pain to end.

Her family stated that they'd grown accustomed to the pain and that it no longer bothered them, as they all had mostly human forms, it was only those whose bodies were twisted that felt the pain to that degree.

In Carmilla's mind, however, if some of the chimera her family had known killed themselves, then how much pain were the pure animal chimera in? Torn between the instincts of two or more creatures.

It was this that lead to her current predicament; she wasn't a humanitarian; she didn't care if people lived or died so long as she and her own survived. But chimera weren't human, and she did value the lives of animals.

Human chimera, in Carmilla's mind, were non-humans, like Goblins, and thus didn't bother her.

Sighing as she left her lab, she sought out Zolf, who was in her library, where she usually found him.

He was sitting in the lotus position with a book she noticed was her second year Transfiguration book in his lap, leaning against a tower of books and also surrounded in a circle of book towers.

There was also a notebook next to him that he was writing in with a raised brow.

"Find something interesting?" she questioned, knowing that he was aware of her arrival.

"Yes, I'm interested how one can turn the inanimate animate, I can understand a match to a needle somewhat, but a rat to a goblet?" he muttered, both fascinated and disturbed at the idea.

"Yeah, that bugged me too, even before I started learning alchemy, mostly because of the fact one of my year mates did an incomplete transfiguration, and his goblet was squeaking, furry, and had a tail." Carmilla shuddered, that had been wrong on so many levels.

Zolf looked up at her in disbelief only to find her numbly shaking her head.

"Why do they think its a good idea to do this?" He pondered, not expecting an answer from her, she looked just as lost.

"No idea, anything else you'd like to ask?" 

"No, what did you need?" Zolf asked as she sat down near him, her back against the nearby wall.

"You know that I sneak into Central Command," she began making him nod, he actually found her little adventures amusing after she'd explained how the Notice-Me-Not spell worked combined with her stealthy behavior, the likelihood of her being caught was slim, and she was careful to cover her tracks.

"I do, you go into the archives, don't you?" Solf answered, wondering where she was going with this.

"I found out there is a State Alchemist who specializes in chimera research." 

Zolf's eyes narrowed, knowing where she was going with this.

"You're planning to go and 'visit' them, aren't you?"

Carmilla gave a sharp nod causing him to sigh.

"Why come to me and not to Greed or the others."

"Because you won't try to stop me or come along." She said bluntly, making him chuckle, the protectiveness they'd showed when he first arrived was only the tip of the iceberg when it came to his daughter.

While Carmilla still had reservations about him, he knew without a doubt she was his daughter. He'd known it the moment he saw the letter but was confident of the fact the moment he met her. The inheritance test she'd brought with her from the other side only provided the proof for others. 

Idly he wondered what Flame would have thought if he knew Zolf was a father, probably have a heart attack.

There was no love lost between him and the Flame Alchemist; the man was a naive idealist, Zolf was a realist.

"That is true, so you wish for me to give you advice on what, exactly?" Zolf asked her, marking his place in the book before closing it.

"More or less, it's really just about what I should if I find a human chimera, and I need someone to tell Greed once I'm gone. Who knows, maybe I'll run into Fullmetal again. Heard he'd raised quite the ruckus in Liore."

Carmilla shrugged, making him sigh.

"You're also conflicted about what to do about this Alchemist. If you kill him, you'll draw attention to yourself." the Crimson Alchemist warned, folding his arms across his chest.

It wasn't that he doubted her abilities, he watched Carmilla spar with the chimera, and she'd proved just how versatile she was with her water alchemy.

Once she gains even the slightest mastery in his explosive alchemy, she'll be a force of nature, and that's before she brings her magic into the game.

"I know, I want nothing more than to rip the son of a bitch limb from limb, they call him the Sewing Life Alchemist, Shou Tucker. I'm certain he's made a human chimera, as he earned his certification for making a talking chimera, the thing is," she said, pulling papers out of a hip pouch she'd enchanted to resemble a bottomless bag, unfolding the documents and reading her notes on Tucker's files, "the chimera he made said only one thing, "I want to die," and starved itself to death. Just the day before he got his certification, his wife left him and their daughter, Nina, two years ago."

Zolf quickly put the pieces together with a grimace, "He used his wife for the material. At least I just kill people." he hissed as he took the notes from her.

"Since the war ended, State Alchemists go through an assessment every two years, according to Tucker's file, he got his certification in May of 1912, his assessment is in a few days. If he was willing to turn his wife into a chimera, I would worry for the daughter."

Carmilla explained, causing rage to boil within the man.

"Go, I'll cover the others. If you're lucky, he'll grab a random stranger off the streets, but why risk it when he can just use the kid." Zolf told her, he may not have morals in the ordinary sense, but he does have them, somewhat. 

Carmilla nodded at the command, rising to her feet and walking out the door with purpose-filled steps.

* * *

Arriving in Central with a soft pop from the portkey, she walked out of the alley and joined the flow of traffic, raising the hood of her jacket to block the sun from blinding, heading for the train station.

'If I recall, Tucker is in East City,' she thought as she approached the ticket booth, greeting the teller with a warm smile, "Hello Sir, I need a ticket for East City, soonest available time please," 

"Of course, the soonest it the 1 o'clock train and will be 50 cens, please," the teller informed her, taking the money she held out. 

"Thank you," she muttered, pulling her pocket watch out, and checking the time.

"It's a thirty-minute wait; I'll grab a snack from one of the vendors in the station. I wish I had a portkey to East City, would be a lot easier," she muttered as she made her way to the platform, somewhat grateful that she had experience on long train rides thanks to the Hogwarts Express.

Reaching the platform, she quickly found a vendor selling croquettes and bought a few, out of everything she'd tried they were her favorite. 

"What's a young lady like you traveling alone for?" a male voice sounded making her look to the speaker, seeing a man with spikey black hair and green eyes, one strand of hair falling into his face, he had stubble along his chin and was wearing the Amestrian Military uniform, the stars on his shoulder telling her he was a Colonel in rank.

"Visiting family," she lied, schooling her face to hide her unease, not only was a human talking to her, but they were male and military.

"All alone? Sorry, I'm a father, I've got a daughter myself, and isn't she adorable!" the man exclaimed, pulling a picture of a little girl out of his breast pocket, shoving it in her face.

Carmilla blinked, trying to bring the picture into focus as she realized it was a little girl in a pink sundress with blond pigtails and green eyes just like the man's.

"Y...yes, yes she is sir, how old is she?" Carmilla asked awkwardly, unsure how to handle the man.

"She's three, her name's Elicia, and she's the sweetest angel in the world! Her mother is too!" the Colonel said, pulling Carmilla to sit down beside him on a bench as he went on about his family.

"Um...sir, could you let go," Carmilla asked, trying to resist the urge to rip her arm away from his grip.

Seemingly realizing how uncomfortable she was the man let go, holding his hands up beside his head.

"Sorry, my name's Maes Hughes, what's your name ma'am?"

"Carmilla, you're a Colonel, right?" Carmilla asked, pointing to the stars on his shoulders.

"That's right; you have family in the military?" Hughes asked the teen, who nodded as she pulled out one of her croquettes.

"Former, my father was in Ishval. He doesn't like talking about it though," she sighs, looking sadly down at her snack, mentally praising her acting skill since it seemed that the man was falling for it.

"I can imagine, a lot of good men lost their lives in that hell," Hughes agreed as he took in her appearance.

She was tiny, which was why he approached her at first, only to realize that she was a teenager from her voice.

"Indeed," Carmilla grunted, wishing the man would leave her alone and trying to subtly ward the man off.

"Are you heading to East City? I'm heading there myself, and it can get lonely traveling alone." Hughes offered, aware of the fact she didn't really want to talk, but he was concerned, he certainly would allow Elicia to travel alone.

That, and the girl wasn't quite as smooth as she thought, oh, her dislike of interaction was real, but her story was a lie. 

She was a good lier, he'd give her that, but he worked intelligence, it took a lot to lie to him successfully.

"Um...there's no need to go out of your way, Sir, I am heading to East City as you thought, but there isn't a need to look out for me. I'm sure that you have work to do," Carmilla muttered, avoiding looking to the man who she couldn't help but noticed looked similar to James Potter from the one picture she'd seen of her step-father.

'I wonder if James was like this guy.' she wondered, what little she'd heard about the man told her that he was a joyful, fun-loving man.

"It's no trouble, I'm sure that it'd put your father at ease to know that you got there safely," Hughes said, smiling warmly at her.

Realizing that he wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer, Carmilla sighed and nodded her head.

"Very well, though father ensured I could protect myself, basic hand-to-hand," Carmilla warned, pulling out another croquette. 

Hughes stared at the snack, not familiar with it.

"What's that?" he questioned, pointing to it and making her smile for the first time.

"It's a croquette, kinda like a deep-fried potato but it's filled with meat or fish, these were made with beef," Carmilla said, offering one to the man who took it.

"I like them more than other foods, though, I'm not too fond of the fish-filled ones. You make them by mashing potatoes and mixing in milk, salt, pepper, chopped onion, beaten egg yolks, then shape the potatoes into balls, dip them in beaten eggs, roll them in breadcrumbs, and fry them in shallow oil until they're golden brown on all sides (this is a recipe I looked up)"

She explained as Hughes took a bite, puffing air at the heat to cool his mouth down, before swallowing.

"That's good, I see why you like them, I'll have to tell my wife," he said, scarfing down the rest.

"Yep, you must love them, you haven't stopped talking about them," Carmilla mumbled, a faraway look in her eyes.

Hughes looked down sharply at her words, concerned at the look in her eyes, it reminded him of Ishval veterans.

"You okay?" 

"Oh, yes," she huffed, giving him a smile, "I just have a lot on my mind is all. Don't worry about me," she assured him as the train rolled into the station.

* * *

Carmilla stepped onto the East City platform with a sigh of relief, planning to lose Hughes in the crowd.

Luckily, that proved almost too easy, since Hughes had to get his luggage, the joys of magic.

Taking to the alleys, she smirked as she saw the Colonel walk past looking concerned, clearly looking for her.

'Sorry, Colonel, but I can't have you getting in my way. Now, it's time to find Tucker.' she cackled within the safety of her mind, casting the Notice-Me-Not (NMN) spell and making her way to Eastern Command.

Slipping in passed the guards was easy since they couldn't detect her presence with the spell, and made her way to archives.

Sneaking into the archive room, she started searching for Tucker's personnel files.

"Bingo," she whispered as she found what she was searching for only to freeze as the door opened to reveal a member of the staff. Quickly gazing at the address, she slipped the file back in place and backed herself into the wall, allowing the woman to pass by as she slipped out the open door.

'That was a bit too close,' she scolded herself, now hyperaware of everyone in the building.

As she was leaving, she spotted a familiar blond-haired teen and an armor-wearing man with a black-haired man wearing a Colonel's uniform and a blond woman wearing Lieutenant's uniform.

'So, Fullmetal's here too, interesting. Wonder who the Colonel is.' she wondered as she walked past them.

Reaching the address assigned to Tucker, she gritted her teeth at the large house the man was living in, spotting a large dog in the yard, did the military really have the funds to waste it like this. 

She was about to enter the property when a car pulled up in front, Fullmetal, his brother, and the Colonel got out.

'Don't tell me he's looking into chimera!' 

This was not part of the plan, looks like she'd need to wait until younger State Alchemist was gone, and that still didn't help with the girl.

* * *

Two days, that's how long it took Carmilla to get her opening, and she took it as she felt the signs of alchemy in the air.

'Oh shit, don't let me be too late!' she panicked, rushing into the house and down the stairs where Tucker's lab likely was.

Slamming open the door Carmilla froze at the sight before her, Fullmetal pinning Tucker to the wall as his brother knelt before a chimera with long brown hair asking if they could play.

"No, I'm too late..." she whimpered, looking to the chimera she knew was Tucker's daughter mixed with their dog.

"Who are you?" the armor-wearing boy questioned, turning to her and preparing to fight.

Fullmetal turned his head to her, keeping Tucker firmly pinned to the wall with his automail arm, his eyes widening in recognition.

"It's you, from when the Freezer was running around central...what are you doing here," he asked, nearly choking Tucker.

"I...look, let me take the girl, we both know she can't be turned back to normal like that, not after being turned into a chimera. If the military gets ahold of her, the only thing that awaits her is a cell in a lab, she'll never be considered human again. I know other chimeras, human chimeras, that escaped from a lab years ago and I can get her to them. Do whatever you want with that asshole, I'd put together the pieces the military either ignored or missed." 

Carmilla said, ignoring their questions as she focused her gaze on the child chimera.

'Oh Truth, how much pain is she in? Her form is mangled,' she observed, the chimera's front paws looked somewhat like hands, but the girl's form was mostly that of the dog.

Fullmetal stared at her for a moment before asking, "You'll make sure she's safe?"

Carmilla locked eyes with him, noting that unlike her or Zolf, his eyes were actually gold in color, and nodded sharply.

"You have my word, I swear by Truth," she started, watching his eyes widen, "that she'll come to no harm from me or mine. We hate the military, I just need help sneaking her past the soldiers, it'd be best if we fake her death," 

Carmilla looked around the lab, looking at all the chimera in cages, "use one of the other chimeras, put it out of its misery, so that they have no reason to think she's still alive."

Fullmetal turned to her, having knocked Tucker out by choking him, and nodded.

"I can handle that, but I want your name and how you know other chimeras."

"It's Carmilla, and they took me in after I ran into them. They were once human just like her," Carmilla explained as she stood in front of the girl. 

"Hello, my name is Carmilla, I want to take you somewhere safe, is that okay?" she addressed the child, smiling warmly at her.

"Safe? Go Safe? My name is Nina," the chimera said, her speech broken and holding an echo to it.

"Yes, Nina, safe, where you don't have to be in pain," Carmilla said, gently stroking Nina's hair.

"Pain stop? Nina would like that,"

"Pain, what pain Nina?" the armor-wearing boy asked, concerned.

"Chimeras that are made from pure animals always cry out because they are in pain, torn between the instincts of whatever animals they are made from. Human chimeras like Nina and my friends are able to express this pain. I was looking into the military because of them, I wanted to make sure that no one was looking into chimera research. I came across Tucker."

Normally Carmilla would never tell a soul about her family, but she needed the bothers to trust her, time wasn't on their sides.

"Al, lead Carmilla and Nina out the back, I'll handle the chimera," Fullmetal said after a few minutes, he didn't know why, but he trusted the girl before him, perhaps it was the look in her eyes, a look he saw in the mirror every day.

"Brother,"

"She's right Al, if the military learned that Nina was still alive, they'd kill her or worse. Chimera can't be DNA tested, so they'll never know the switch. Tucker won't be trusted, not after I call Mustang."

Fullmetal explained to his brother who nodded, his armor sounding almost hollow to Carmilla's ears.

"This way lets go." Al requested, Carmilla and Nina following after.

"Can you really help her?" Al asked as they walked up the stairs, Carmilla helping Nina as the child's joints caused her pain.

"Yes, I wasn't lying, I know a bit about herbal medicine, I help my friends with the pain they feel. Nina will be safe," Carmilla swore as they reached the back yard.

"Is there any way we can contact you?" Al asked he wanted to check in on Nina.

Carmilla shook her head sadly, giving a small lie, "We move almost constantly, paranoia. Maybe we'll come across each other again," 

"Take care then, Nina," Al called out, kneeling in front of Nina, "stay safe for us okay? Brother and I would be sad if you got hurt,"

"Okay Brother Al, Nina be good, don't hurt Daddy?" Nina asked, breaking Carmilla's heart.

'Even after this, she still loves that monster?' Carmilla wondered, stomping down the rage in her heart, knowing that Nina's nose would give away her anger.

"I'll see what I can do Nina, but he hurt you and your mother badly, and he needs to answer for that," Al said to the little girl.

"Okay, we go now?" Nina turned her muzzle to Carmilla who nodded, leading her into the alleys after casting the NMN spell on her once out of Al's sight.

After moving several blocks away Carmilla turned to Nina,

"Hey Nina, wanna see a magic trick?" she questioned, the chimera's tail wagging at her words.

"Magic? Magic real?"

"Yep, I'm a witch, so I can cast magic either with my wand or without it at times. Though I have to be really good with a spell for that," Carmilla smiled as she pulled out a piece of rope, casting the enchantment to turn the rope into a portkey to the Devil's Nest.

"Can you bite into this Nina, this isn't the most comfortable way to travel, and it might hurt a bit, but it's the only way for me to get you back to my friends," she told Nina who nodded, biting into the rope.

* * *

Greed watched Dolcetto pace the length of the bar in his worry beside Zolf who was smirking.

Three days, that's how long this little adventure of their witch was taking so far, and the dog chimera was beginning to panic. 

Zolf had just dropped the bomb that Carmilla had left for Central the day after she left so that they couldn't follow after them.

Greed himself was worry about his possession/daughter, even knowing how well she could handle herself, but not to the extent that Dolcetto was; the dog in the man disliking that the pack's pup was out of his sight.

Hearing a crack in the center of the room Greed grinned, knowing Carmilla was home, but that grin fell the moment he saw what was with her.

"Martel, go get me a pain reliever, one for a chimera. I was too late to stop that SOB from making his own daughter into a chimera. Everyone, this is our newest family member, Nina Tucker." Carmilla said tensely, her eyes on Nina who was whimpering.

Dolcetto rushed over, scenting his fellow dog, and growled at Nina's twisted body and her whimpers of discomfort.

"Pup, next time, take one of us with you," he demanded softly, kneeling on the other side of Nina who turned her muzzle to him.

"I know, but I didn't expect this, Nina, this is Dolcetto, he's a dog too." Carmilla introduced, pointing to him.

Nina looked up at him, giving him a simultaneously terrifying yet sweet smile, "Dolcetto, that person Dolcetto, he dog too?" 

"Yep," Dolcetto choked, his eyes tearing up as he ran his fingers through her mane-like hair, "I'm a dog too kid. Save for Milla, Greed, and Zolf, we're all chimera here."

Carmilla knew he was fighting the urge to cry, looking around to see that everyone was upset while Martel walked over with the potion, one of Dolcetto's as she'd heard what Nina was mixed with.

Taking the potion from her Carmilla turned to Nina and said, "Nina, I need you to tilt your head back as far as you can, this will take the pain away alright?" 

Nina sniffed the bottle, her muzzle wrinkling making Dolcetto chuckle, "It tastes worse than it smells, but it works really good kid."

Nina nodded at that, sitting up and raising her head as far as possible, opening her jaw and allowing Carmilla to pour a small dose of the potion in her mouth.

"Good girl Nina, I need to talk to Greed okay, I'm sure that Dol and Bido will play with you if you ask," Carmilla told her, making the chimera nod.

"Okay, play with me?" Nina asked, looked to Dol who nodded, "Come on, we can also find you a room."

Once the pair left the main bar Greed stood, heading for the office.

"Tell me everything, leave nothing out. I hope Tucker is dead," Greed demanded once they were in the office.

"Didn't have time, the military was on their way. Fullmetal was there, I had to tell him I knew human chimera for him to let her go. Didn't tell them details, just that I knew a group of chimera that escaped the military and that I was Nina's best bet," Carmilla told him as if debriefing a superior officer.

Greed looked cross for a moment before sighing, "I'm surprised that Fullmetal trusted you."

"Not sure why they did, but I did make a good argument,"

"What was that?"

"That if the military learned of Nina's existence, the only thing she could expect is the inside of a cage in a lab, never again to be human." 

Greed smirked at that, can't argue with the truth.

"Aside from Fullmetal and his brother, did anyone see you?"

"On the train to East City, ran into a Colonel that wouldn't shut up about his family. But I lost him in the crowd."

"Good, go get Nina settled in," Greed ordered, planing on sending Dolcetto to pick up toys for the girl.

She belonged to him now, and he would see that his new possession was well cared for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nina is going to be spoiled, she deserves it


	12. Helping Nina

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know everyone was unhappy with Nina still winding up a chimera, but she will not be stuck like that forever, Carmilla has plans.

Carmilla threw herself into her studies after her return with Nina, disappearing into her library and pulling out her seventh-year tomes for potions, transfiguration, and charms.

It was only a vague feeling in her gut, but she was confident that while there was no alchemical way to help Nina, there was a magic one.

Whether or not she had the books she needed was the main issue, it would be the Potter (rather, Kimblee she guessed) luck striking that she would only have references for what she was looking into.

Nina joined her in the library, the familiarity bringing her comfort, acting as a pillow for her sister to lean against.

Nina, over several weeks, acknowledged what had happened to her and reasonably began to hate her father for what he'd done while latching on to her new family, latching onto Carmilla and Dolcetto the most, often seen with either if they weren't in the bar.

But today, the Nest was greeted with the sight of Carmilla storming up from the basement and up to Greed's office, where he was having a discussion with Zolf.

Slamming open the door, startling the two men inside, she barked,

"I need you to get me a Red Stone,"

Greed stared at her in confusion, wondering why the hell she'd need a Red Stone before his eyes narrowed.

"You aren't attempting human transmutation." the sin growled, Zolf's eyes also narrowing at the thought.

Carmilla gave him a perplexed look before laughing,

"No, I'm not. I need the Stone to assist in using a spell." the witch explained, slamming the book in her hands down on the desk before him, opened to a page about the animagus transformation.

"I was looking into this because my inheritance test said I had an animagus form, and the text details that many animagi, on the first try, end up stuck in a malformed state. There's a spell to reverse the malformation; I thought that chimera and animagi share some traits. So I used the animagus revelation spell on Dolcetto and Nina. It didn't react in Dol's case, but in Nina's, it reacted. Her condition registers as a failed animagus transformation, if slightly off." 

Carmilla told him, making the homunculus' eyes widen.

"You can fix her?"

Carmilla shook her head, "I can't undo the fact that she's a chimera, but with the reversal spell, I can give her back her human form. I'm not sure why she registers as an animagus while Dol doesn't, and I tested it against the other non-human chimeras too, none of them reacted to the revelation spell. Maybe because they've been in their states for more than a year, the book does say that the longer a person stays in the malformation, the more the body accepts the new state."

She theorized, losing Greed while Zolf made a hum of understanding, making the sin turn to the older Kimblee.

"Because Nina only became a chimera about what, six weeks ago? She's still fluid enough to reverse. Think of it like when Roa reveals his horns, what Carmilla will do with the spell will return her to her 'default' of a little girl, instead of a malformed canine."

"Ooohh," Greed was still lost, but Zolf made a bit more sense than his daughter at the moment. 

"Okay, I'm still hella confused, but I'm going to say that by using the Red Stone, you'll be covering your bases?" he asked, making her nod.

"Yep, even if Nina reacts to the spell, her state is still a state caused by alchemy, so by using a Red Stone as the power for the spell, instead of my magic, I should be able to restore her. I could probably do it without the Stone, but I'd rather be safe than sorry in this case."

"But there is still the risk of the Gate viewing this as human transmutation, why not use my Philosopher's Stone?" Zolf inquired as he held up, said Stone.

"I could," Carmilla stated, "but that is the only Philosopher's Stone not under the control of Dwarf that we know of, and I would rather not risk using it up. Plus, it's your Stone, so I never considered it an option."

Zolf accepted the answer; there was no way to tell how much power his Stone had left after all.

"Red Stones are easier to get ahold of, all things considered, I have a few in my possession." Greed muttered, walking over to the wall safe, pulling out a marble-sized Red Stone, and tossing it to her.

"Why do you have Red Stones?" Carmilla questioned, eyebrow raised.

"Stole them from the lab the guys were in." the sin answered with a shrug, closing the safe and making a note to change the combination.

Carmilla nodded at the answer before turning on her heel, "By the way, I heard from Mason, the Curtis' runner, that the Elrics are in town." she told her boss/friend/protector whose face split into a devilish grin.

"I'll let them settle in for a few days to see if this plan works. If it doesn't?"

"There is a potion, but it's hard to brew, and I don't have the ingredients necessary, the one potion that Truth couldn't substatute the core ingredient. Well, the one so far could be more that I haven't read yet. If that turns out to be the case, then we'll just have to wait."

Carmilla shrugged, making Zolf look to her in confusion while Greed nodded.

"Wait for what?"

"When I came through the Gate, I made an agreement with Truth that I would return to fix a certain mess. Equivalent Exchange and all that. Plus, can you really say that you don't want the chance to rain hell on those bastards?" Carmilla questioned, while she and Zolf still weren't close, it'd take years for that, she knew that her father would love to have a 'chat' with Dumbledore and the Dursleys.

"What mess, and when do you go back?" Zolf demanded, barely containing the rush of wrath filling his veins, like hounds baying for blood.

"The wizard who murdered Lily and James, he did something that is comparably worse than human transmutation, he split his soul into several pieces in an attempt to become immortal. When he killed them, his magic forced him to create a seventh, me. Seven is a powerful number in magic, like eight is to alchemy because it can be seen as the symbol for infinity. There was also the fact that his soul and magic, because of the splitting, were extremely unstable."

Zolf paled at the information, split the soul? 

"Yeah, I was just as horrified, anyway, the Goblins removed the soul shard from me before I came through the Gate. I agreed to go back and destroy the other shards; I have ten years before then, though. Did I ever mention the time difference between the worlds?"

"No, is it important?" Zolf asked only to grin at the mischievous look on her face.

"Yep, they'll find a way to force me back from what I've gathered, but for them, only two years will have passed since I left. So I'd be fourteen if Amestris was on Earth. But for every two months on Earth, a year passes in Amestris. I'll be twenty-four when they force me back, not fourteen." 

Zolf began to chuckle as she spoke only for it to turn into a maniacal laugh by the end, oh he wished he could see their faces.

"If only I could see," he lamented such a shame.

"You can," Zolf's gaze snapped to hers, "Truth agreed that I'd be able to bring those closest with me. I knew from the beginning after we broke you out, you'd be coming with me. Now, I need to go see if the spell works."

Carmilla declared as she left the office, ignoring the terrified look Greed was shooting Kimblee as the man's face twisted into an evil grin.

* * *

Carmilla panted as she stood in her lab, smoke filling the room from the small explosion the Stone made when it was used up, kneeling as she tried to see where Nina had stood.

"N...Nina *cough* where...where are you?" She called out, hearing multiple sets of footsteps as she waved her hands around to clear the smoke.

Finally, she spotted the chimera, her eyes going wide as the smoke cleared.

Rushing forward, she pulled Nina into her arms as she began to cry.

Small arms wrapped around her middle as Nina, almost wholly human again, returned the hug.

"Sister, it worked," Nina smiled, her voice still echoed, but not nearly as much as before.

"Yes, it did, Nina," Carmilla smiled down at her, taking in Nina's new appearance as the doors were thrown open.

Nina's body was human again, her hair pooling on the floor around them, as she smiled. Carmilla took in that Nina's teeth were sharper than average, her eyes were now a pale blue instead of the ocean blue they'd been before, and her hands were tipped in black claw-like nails, but she was human again.

Looking to the others, Nina waved to them, calling out to Dolcetto.

"Dol, Sister did it, I'm human again," the youngest chimera said as Dolcetto yipped, rushing over and pulling her into his arms.

Carmilla smiled as the chimera passed Nina around, each of them hugging the little girl before her vision went hazy, falling backward as she heard everyone call out to her, sounding like they were in a tunnel.

* * *

Carmilla blinked, finding herself in a familiar white void, her gate behind her now much more detailed, looking like a phoenix in flight, and Truth looking at her with a frown.

" _Hello Little Witch, I didn't expect to see you so soon."_

The guardian greeted as they sat with their left arm resting on their right knee.

"Truth, did I do something?" Carmilla questioned, she knew that she was treading on thin ice with what she did for Nina.

" _Not quite,"_ Truth began, _"though you came close. I brought you here to warn you,"_

"To never do this again?"

" _Manipulating souls is not for the hands of humans, Little Witch, I could let it pass this time, only because of the Stone."_

"But I didn't manipul...I see I combined my magic and alchemy in order to power the spell," Carmilla realized, by doing what she'd done, she'd performed a mock human transmutation.

"Forgive me Truth, I was foolish to not see all the angles."

" _Indeed you were, the souls in the Red Stone pled for you to be forgiven. You are lucky that it was not a true transmutation or you would have had to pay the price. Do not do it again, Carmilla Kimblee. Or else."_

Truth warned her, their sightless face glaring at her as they pointed to the Gate behind her that had opened to reveal a giant eye.

" _The Gate still wishes to punish you, but it will let you pass, this time. But you must do something for it instead."_

Truth explained causing her to nod.

"What is it?"

" _You must ensure that Dwarf in the Flask dies. By whatever means necessary. Are we understood?"_

Carmilla stared at the entity for a moment, feeling the weight of the order, before she answered, "Understood if it comes down to it, I'll use the killing curse as many times as it takes." 

She swore making Truth grin.

" _It probably won't come to that, but I am glad to see you understand your folly. I do not want to see you again until the day you return to Earth."_

* * *

Carmilla opened her eyes to see Greed, staring down at her with worried eyes.

"You okay kid?"

"Yeah, sorry, I just used too much magic." Carmilla lied, having a feeling that Truth didn't want them to know. Or maybe it was her, who didn't want that.

Greed eyed her for a moment, having a feeling she was lying, but deciding to let it lie.

"I want you on bed rest for the next two days, no magic, no alchemy. Understood?" 

"I understand, the others?"

"They're fine, Nina's worried, but you just rest. I'll tell them."

"Thank you, Greed, what about the Elrics."

"Let me worry about them, okay?"

Carmilla nodded, pulling the sheets of her bed over her, having noticed she was in her room.

"Oh," Greed said as he stopped by the door, "next time you want to lie to me, do it better. You saw Truth, I'm guessing, so I'm not going to pry. But next time, be more careful."

He ordered as he left, making her frown.

"He can read me too well."


	13. Raid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to rewatch the episode so many times so I could get the exact dialogue. Writing Ed was fun.  
> also, did I spell fuhrer right?

"THIS" = Ed's tantums/short rants

* * *

Two days of hellish bedrest later, Carmilla woke with a sinking feeling in her gut, one she'd only felt twice in her life. 

The first was when her former possessed teacher Quirrell tried to strangle her; the second was in the Chamber of Secrets when Riddle revealed his true self.

Though she'd never really bought into the older teen's act entirely, something about him had rubbed her wrong the moment the diary had talked back.

Quickly dressing in her preferred black muscle shirt and shorts, she went straight to her lab, bypassing a concerned-looking Roa who sought out their boss.

Entering her lab, she gathered her potions ingredients, research notes, and premade alchemy circles, storing them into her trunk that she kept on a choker around her neck before moving to her library and doing the same with her magic tomes.

She'd just finished when Greed walked in, watching her move like a tornado through the room.

"Thought I told you to stay in bed." the sin greeted making her jump, in her rush she hadn't even noticed that he'd joined her.

"Bad feeling, probably just being paranoid after what happened, but..." Carmilla shrugged, a slight blush on her face from the look that Martel, who stood just behind the sin, shot her.

"Whatever the case, we're bringing in the Elrics today. Bido was spying on them last night and learned something fascinating," he informed her, making her raise a brow.

"What's so fascinating about them? Other than the fact that the older brother is a State Alchemist with a bit of talent?" she asked as she followed behind the pair as they went to the 'common room' within the basement.

Once there, she noticed that Zolf was absent but made no mention of it as Nina ran up to her.

"The younger brother is nothing but a soul bound to armor, that's what," Martel answered, making Carmilla's eyes snap to her.

"What? A soul? Why in the world would someone bind a soul to armor? Unless..." Carmilla muttered, playing with Nina's hair after sitting down with the girl in her lap.

"Unless," Greed prodded, curious as to what her sharp mind was thinking, he could hear the gears turning in her head from clear across the room.

"Well, it's just a theory, but Izumi can perform alchemy without an array because she tried bringing back her baby. Fullmetal is rumored to have the same ability, so maybe he tried to bring his brother back, but only the soul?" Carmilla theorized, making everyone stiffen up.

"It's a possibility for certain," Greed muttered as he sipped at his whiskey.

"Anyway, Bido will be sending a message to the brothers, and Roa, Martel, and I will be waiting in the alley. We're aiming for armor-boy," Dolcetto called out, causing her to nod.

"Just don't hurt the kid, I've heard him talk, he sounds young despite that body," Carmilla requested, warning clear in her tone making Dolcetto chuckle.

"We don't plan on it, and if he gives us any trouble, we plan for Martel to get inside the armor."

Carmilla sighed at the answer, knowing it was the best she'd get, before turning her dual-colored gaze back to Greed.

"So, if you reveal that you're a homunculus to the brothers, who gets to knock your head off?" she inquired, making Greed snicker while Nina whimpered.

"Greed's going to what?" she demanded in concern as everyone flinched.

Greed quickly walked over and pulled the youngest into his arms, "Don't worry sugarplum, it won't hurt me at all. It's happened loads of times." he assured, petting her head as she sniffed, tears welling in her eyes.

"It won't? It won't hurt you? Really?" Nina asked, looking up at him through watery eyes as he rocked her slightly.

"Not one bit, remember, I'm not human sugarplum, and you won't have to be there. You can come in after that bit, okay?" 

Carmilla smiled at the scene before her, it always amazed her just how much Greed adored the little girl, he cared for all of them, but Nina held a special place within the sin's Stone.

"Promise? I can see Big Brothers again?"

"Yeah, you can see them again, but only for a few moments, we need to have grown-up talk, okay?" Greed told her as he handed her back to Carmilla.

"Okay," Nina mumbled as she curled into her sister.

"By the way," Carmilla spoke up, causing the sin's gaze to rest on her, "where is Zolf?" she questioned curiously.

"He left for a town in the west, something about going to collect some of his notes he'd hidden. Said he'd be back in a month or two." the homunculus answered, the man had left just before dawn since he was a wanted man, planing to disguise himself to travel unimpeded.

"He mentioned something about that," Carmilla grunted, recalling the man mentioned it in passing.

"Now, back to the 'knock my head off' thing, why did you ask?" Greed asked, making a mischievous grin appeared on her face.

"Well...I kinda want to do it, payback for nearly walking in on me while I was changing." Carmilla teased while the sin sighed, 

"Damnit Milla, it was an accident. But fine, how are you going to do it?" Greed groaned, pointedly ignoring the laughing of his gang.

"Nina, go play; you don't need to hear this, okay?" Carmilla gently shoved Nina off her lap, the younger dog chimera nodding, as Bido took her hand and led her out of the room.

Once she was sure they were out of hearing range, she answered her friend/protector's question.

"I could use magic, in which I could use the blasting hex or cutting curse, or I can use my hybrid circle, Zolf's circle, or Isaac's circle." She listed, ticking off her fingers while Greed gave her a concerned look.

"Hybrid circle? And 'no' on the magic bit."

"Yeah, I combined Zolf and Isaac's circles. It'll superheat the water in your body before focusing it into a small explosion. I'm still working out the kinks on it. Zolf said the theory is good though, just needs controlled testing." Carmilla explained with a maniacal tone, rubbing her hands together like some sort of mad scientist.

Greed shuddered at the look in her eyes, wondering where the sweet, shy preteen she'd been went.

'Note to self, puberty is scary in females,' Greed thought as she began giggling, mumbling under her breath about various transmutations she wanted to try.

'Or, maybe allowing her to be around Zolf wasn't a good idea after all,' he conceded in the safety of his mind, the look on her face was scarily similar to the Crimson Alchemist's when he talked about his explosions.

"Okay, no on the hybrid circle, I'd prefer that you have Zolf around for that one. Just use his circle." the sin commanded, making her pout, snapping her fingers in disappointment.

"Fine, we'll do that instead," Carmilla mumbled, she'd wanted to use her new circle so much!

'She's insane,' the group collectively thought.

"Dol, Martel, Roa, go wait for the kid. Tell Bido to deliver the message." Greed ordered as Carmilla pulled out one of her notebooks, an idea having hit her.

* * *

Carmilla watched as Roa carried the soul-bound armor over his shoulder, placing him against the wall.

Since Martel was missing, she guessed the snake chimera was inside the armor as Greed walked over, removing the helmet and saying,

"Cool, you're actually hollow," as he waved at Martel inside, "the name's Greed and I want to be your friend." the sin told the boy as he walked back to stand beside Roa, who Carmilla was hidden behind to keep her a secret.

Wouldn't do for Alphonse to spot her too early.

"Then why don't you tell me what you people really are," Alphonse stated, thinking back to Nina's malformed body while trying to hide the fact he knew that talking chimera existed, his thoughts going to Carmilla for a moment, "You're not chimeras, it's impossible, no ones made a chimera that can talk."

Playing along for the moment, Greed walked back to the boy and kneeled before him, "You can't believe everything the government tells you, kid. You got all the proof you need right inside you. The girl in there is part snake, and this big guy here," he gestured to Roa with his head, "Roa, what were you made with? Cow?" 

Roa nodded with a "Yeah," adjusting his grip on his hammer to hide Carmilla, who moved against his back.

She heard Alphonse gasp at this, smiling sadly at the innocence the boy showed while Greed continued,

"We've also got a lizard, a crocodile, and the little runt you took down earlier tends to lift his leg when he pees." Greed teased as Dolcetto barked, "Only once damn it!" nearly making Carmilla give herself away from giggling.

"You're part dog?" Alphonse asked in disbelief while Dolcetto smirked at him.

"Yep, it's really not so bad."

"I don't believe it...it's not possible. Who would even be capable of creating one?" the armor asked, beginning to wonder if this was the group Carmilla spoke of.

"The military." Greed told him, making the boy ask, "You mean?"

"You got it, there's a shadow world beneath yours that's jampacked with the impossible. Hell, I'm more uncommon than they are." Greed said as Carmilla discretely looked around Roa, knowing her part was coming up at the sin showed off his Oroboros.

"I'm a homunculus."

"A homunculus?"

"You know what that means, right? I'm an artificially created human, really, no joke," he said to the boy.

"You're lying! A homunculus is just a theory! No body's made one!" Alphonse denied making Greed frown as he stood up, removing his shades.

"Oh man, guess I gotta prove it," the sin sighed, "Milla, if you would, dear." 

Alphonse watched in shock as Carmilla walked out from behind the largest male, standing beside Greed as she waved to the boy before turning, holding her hand up to the side of Greed's head the next instant and blowing everything from the chin-up off.

Greed's body went flying off to the side, a shower of blood, smoke, and pieces raining down.

Alphonse cried out in shock,

"Why did you do that to him?! What did you do to Nina!" the boy demanded only to watch in horror/shock as the headless body began to move, red lightning arcing off the body as it regenerated, one hand raised with the pointer finger up.

Once his head fully regenerated, he moaned before cracking his neck, wiping the blood from his chin as he smirked at the boy.

"That's one time I've died."

"No way,"

"You get it yet, nothing is impossible, I'm a little surprised you'd have such a hard time accepting that. Considering you're just a soul in a suit of armor." Greed mocked, patting Carmilla on the head.

"As for Nina, she's just fine, Milla, why don't you be a good girl and fetch her while soul-boy and I have a chat," he ordered making Carmilla nod.

"Sure, I think she's in her room, don't worry Al, you'll be pleasantly surprised to see her actually," Carmilla promised, smiling sweetly at the boy as she left, hearing the boy demand to know how they knew he was a soul bound to armor.

Carmilla skipped down the hall to Nina's room, glee filling her at the thought of what the armor would feel seeing the little girl again.

Knocking on the door, she called out.

"Nina, it's time,"

She listened to hurried footsteps within the room, the door flying open to reveal Nina dressed in a shirt with a flower printed on it and shorts.

"Big Brothers are here?" Nina asked, jumping into her arms.

"Well, Alphonse is here. Come on, maybe Edward will be there by the time we get back." Carmilla told her as they turned to leave, Nina holding a stuffed rabbit that was the one possession she'd never be without.

As they approached the common room, Carmilla frowned at the sound of someone yelling.

"Shut your damned mouth! It sounds great to you? It seems perfect? You know nothing about the hell he's had to go through stuck with that body! And you want to know how to transmute a soul?" the male screamed, clearly audible two halls away.

"That sounds like Big Brother Ed," Nina mumbled to her, clutching the rabbit to her chest.

"Indeed it does," Carmilla muttered, sweat beading beside her eye at the volume.

"YOU KIDNAP MY BROTHER, AND YOU WANT TO TRADE SECRETS WITH ME?" the elder Elric roared as the pair reached the room, watching the blond rage at the gang who looked confused/disturbed by the teen's lung capacity. 

"I'm gonna crush you creeps. I'll smash you. End you. And I won't give you slime ANYTHING!" Ed screeched as Carmilla tilted her head, he gave Molly Weasley a run for her money in the ability to murder one's ears.

"In other words," Ed declared, the illusion of a fiery hell surrounding him, "there won't be an exchange with you SCUM!" he finished, pointing at Greed, who clapped at him.

"I guess we're doing this by force again," Dolcetto sighed as he moved forward, drawing his katana from the sheath.

"Dol, I doubt that Fullmetal wants to fight with Nina here. Greed, did you go on the immortality train again?" Carmilla spoke up from behind the State Alchemist, making him whip around.

"You...you're with these guys?" Ed demanded the familiar woman who nodded, waiting for what she'd said to kick in, Nina hiding behind her.

"I told you that my family were chimeras when I helped you hide Nina, did I not?" she said as Dolcetto resheathed his blade.

"Nina...where is she?!" Alphonse demanded, scanning the room for the little girl and not seeing her.

"She's right here," Carmilla answered, moving to reveal Nina standing behind her, still clutching the bunny.

"Big Brothers," Nina greeted, holding on to Carmilla, who placed her hand on the girl's head.

Ed's eyes widened in disbelief as he took in Nina's appearance, an emotion he couldn't identify flooding him as he took in her nearly human appearance.

"You used alchemy on her?" he accused, it was the only way he could understand what he was seeing.

The cross look on Carmilla's face sent a chill up his spine, hearing the ringleader of this gang whistle at the look.

"The hell? As if," Carmilla snorted, "I had no need to use alchemy on her, newsflash boyo, I'm a witch. The genuine article," Carmilla hissed, pulling her wand out and sending a stinging hex his way.

Fullmetal grunted as pain radiated from his stumps, eyeing the wand.

"Magic isn't real, the only magic that exists is people passing alchemy off as it," Ed said, glaring at her when she began to laugh.

"Oh, by Truth, you're an idiot. Magic and alchemy come from the same source, the Gate, magic just isn't as common. Should I turn you into a ferret to prove it exists? Or maybe I should stick you to the ceiling." Carmilla wondered, tapping her wand tip against her chin, hips cocked as Nina giggled.

"It's true Big Brother, Sister fixed me!"

"Well, I can't make you human, but I was at least able to give you your human form back, better than being left in that state forever." Carmilla rubbed Nina's head, smiling down at her.

"Now, Greed, please tell me you didn't go on the immortality train again, that gets old," she asked, looking to the sin who shrugged.

"I just mentioned how nice it must be to not need to eat or sleep. Don't recall saying I wanted immortality." 

"Greed," she sighed, "who knows how old Alphonse was when Fullmetal bound his soul to that armor; for him, it must be hell. To you, it sounds great, but to him, it's probably been a nightmare he can't wake up from." 

Greed flinched at her tone, knowing how testy she got about kids being hurt.

"You're the one behind this, aren't you?!" Ed growled at the sin who sighed.

"Milla, take Nina out of here. She doesn't need to see this." he barked when the State Alchemist transmuted his automail arm into a blade as the homunculus walked forward.

"Roa, take the armor-boy too, we'll have Milla examine him later." Greed added, coating his arms in his shield.

Blade tip met shielded palm as Fullmetal rushed forward, the clash of metal against the blackened skin ringing through the air as Roa grabbed Alphonse.

Carmilla led Nina out of the room as Ed and Greed clashed, Roa following close behind the two.

"Will Big Brother and Greed be okay?" Nina asked, looking up at her.

"They'll be fine, it's a guy thing, sweetie," Carmilla assured, sending a discrete glare to Roa and Alphonse (plus Martel who was still inside the armor) to agree or else.

"Carmilla's right Nina, Brother just likes to spar with new friends?" Alphonse said though it came off as more of a question.

Carmilla smiled at him before freezing, falling to a knee as they reached the sewer tunnels.

"Milla?!" Roa called out in concern, setting Alphonse down and kneeling beside her.

"R..Roa, you need to get back to Greed, my ward, someone just tripped it," Carmilla grunted, making the large male pale.

"Ward?" Alphonse questioned, concerned at the pain that filtered across the witch's face while Martel pushed the helmet out of her way.

"The ward you set up to warn us if a large number of weapons entered the bar?" Martel questioned as Roa ordered the snake to get back in the armor before taking off back toward the Nest.

Carmilla nodded in answer, making Martel hiss.

"Will they be okay?" Nina asked, concerned, the only people she could think of that would have a large number of weapons would be the military.

"They should be fine, Roa will help him," Carmilla assured as she stood, rubbing her chest slightly.

Usually, when one cast a ward spell, they tied it to an object to act as a keystone. But Carmilla tied it to herself out of paranoia; the downside was that when it was tripped, it felt like a sucker punch to the gut.

"Will you be okay?" the younger Elric asked, she looked like her chest hurt from the hand she held to it.

"I'm fine Alphonse, thank you for asking, but I am worried about the others."

Carmilla and Nina leaned against the wall beside the armor for the next few minutes, looking up when they heard approaching footsteps.

Seeing it was Greed, Martel popped her head out of the armor.

"Greed!" the snake called out to the sin who smirked.

"Ah, Martel, glad to see that you're safe, you too, Milla, Sugarplum." the sin said.

Carmilla nodded to the man as she stood.

"It's a raid, isn't it," she muttered, concerned for the others.

"What's going on up there, no one else has made it back. Milla said the ward was tripped."

Greed frowned at the question, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yeah, things have gotten a little out of hand, so we need to figure a way out of here," he told her only for the whole group to freeze when a male voice called out from the darkness, a figure stepping out of the shadows.

"I can't let you do that," the man said, holding a pair of swords in each hand Carmilla recognized as Spadroons, four more resting in their sheaths on his lower back.

The man was older looking, she was guessing between his 40s and 60s, well-muscled, wearing the trousers of the military uniform and a black muscle shirt, and harness for his swords.

What stood out was his eyepatch that gave of an ominous feeling.

But she would be a fool if she didn't recognize him, even if Greed didn't.

"Just what do you want, old man?" Greed asked while she and Alphonse spoke in unison.

"It's/He's the Fuhrer, why is he here?" 

Martel gasped at the identification.

"King Bradley?!"

Greed shot Carmilla a look before returning his gaze to the interloper.

"Huh, what's the most powerful man in the land doing down here?" he asked.

"Not that you'd know, but growing old isn't easy." The Fuhrer said, causing Greed to pinch his brows while Carmilla's gut clenched.

"Huh?" Greed mumbled in confusion.

"This year marks my 60th birthday." Bradley continued with a smile, his green eye closed, "It's frustrating how your body stops moving the way you want it to. So I'd like to finish this job as quickly as possible and return home." the leader of Amestris said, moving forward, swords held out to his sides.

Greed scoffed, covering his arms in his shield as he answered the man, "Heh, I've got an idea, retire."

Carmilla was blinded by a flash of light, hearing the sound of something dropping into the water as she focused back on Greed and the Fuhrer only to gasp, hiding Nina's face in her chest.

Bradley was standing in front of Greed, whose right arm from the elbow down was gone, sword raised telling her that the man had cut it off.

Greed looked down in shock as Carmilla got to her feet, still hiding Greed from Nina's sight.

"Well look at this, the old man's got some moves!" Greed growled as they clashed, Carmilla watching in horrified fascination.

'How, how can he move that fast?' Carmilla wondered, holding Nina tightly to her chest as the little girl whimpered.

"Greed!" Martel called out only for Alphonse to shush her.

"Martel, be quiet, he'll more than likely kill you." Carmilla hissed to the chimera under her breath, Alphonse moving to curl around her and Nina even with his limbs bound.

'Where are the others, I don't think Greed can take him alone,' Carmilla thought, touched slightly that Alphonse was trying to protect them.

The fighting moved away from them, though she could make out the sound of their fight.

"Martel, the others," Carmilla mumbled as leaned against the armor.

"I know..." Martel whispered back, concerned for their friends.

When everything went silent, Carmilla was almost afraid to move, worried that Bradley would pop out of nowhere like a demented weasel and kill her.

Looking up when she heard footsteps, she held her breath, releasing it when she spotted Greed walking out of the shadows.

But...something was wrong with his gait, and his arm hadn't healed yet.

"G...Greed?" she whispered, when he fell, a sword sticking out of his neck and pinning him to the ground.

"No, Greed!" Martel yelped, trying to get out of Alphonse's armor only for the boy to trap her inside.

Carmilla ignored the struggle between Alphonse and Martel, picking Nina up in her arms as the child whimpered, smelling Greed's pain.

"That makes fifteen times you've died now, how many lives have you got left?" Bradley asked rhetorically, pulling the sword from Greed's body.

"Nha, ah, damn you..." Greed groaned, trying to get up.

"Ah crap," Dolcetto's voice called from behind her, making Carmilla turn slightly, keeping Bradley in her sight, to see the battered forms of Dolcetto and Roa.

"Kinda wish we'd died back there," Dol continued as he took in the scene, Roa standing behind him, the larger male transformed to reveal his horns.

"There's still plenty of time to tuck your tail and run away." Roa chuckled, one hand on his injured shoulder.

Dolcetto scoffed at the statement, "Trust me, I'd love to, but I've got this obnoxious sense of canine loyalty." the dog chimera said, stopping to stand beside the bound Alphonse, slashing through the chains binding the armor's wrists and ankles.

"Do us a favor, kid, and get the girls out of here," Dolcetto said with a smile, knowing the boy would do it.

Dolcetto had little doubt that he was going to die, that Roa would too, but at least his pups and friend would be safe.

Martel gasped as the two males smiled back at them, Carmilla handing Nina to the boy as she pulled her wand only for Dol to shake his head at her.

'No...I cant' Carmilla thought as her friends/brothers turned to Bradley and the still down Greed.

'I can't lose them,'

"Protect them," Roa stated with soft eyes before the two rushed to aid their leader.

Carmilla felt numb, feeling like the world slowed down as Bradley turned to face his new opponents.

Nina's screams for Dolcetto, Martel and Alphonse's argument, her brothers' war cries, they were all muffled as she watched the Fuhrer move forward, sword raised.

She had a vision of Dolcetto being cut in two, of Roa falling, and she wanted to cry.

Then the world came back into focus, her brothers still rushing forward, and Carmilla moved, a loud pop-sounding through the air as she reappeared with a crack between her family and the monster that would kill them.

The Fuhrer's eye widened as the slip of a girl reappeared, standing between him and his prey with her arms outstretched. Her right arm pointed to her comrades with the palm facing them, her left arm pointed toward him with some sort of stick, the tip glowing.

"Impedimenta!" the girl howled, and Bradley felt shock tear through his rage as he was thrown backwards, the two chimeras also being thrown back toward the younger Elric brother and the little girl.

Greed stared in shock at the force behind her spells, quickly getting to his feet and rushing to her as she stumbled.

"Carmilla!" he cried out, catching her before she hit the ground, sweat pouring down her face.

"G...Greed?" she mumbled, looking up at him with hazy eyes before the sin looking to his possessions.

Dolcetto and Roa were beaten all to hell, they needed medical treatment, and fast, Carmilla was looking bad too.

"Dolcetto. Roa. Alphonse." Greed barked, wondering how far Carmilla had sent the other homunculus flying as he peered into the darkness.

"Boss?" Dolcetto questioned, panting as Nina rushed over to him.

"Get out of here, take Nina, Milla, and Martel and go. I'll hold him off as long as I can. He's a homunculus like me, pretty sure he's Wrath." Greed told his men, glancing at the before gently shaking Carmilla to wake her up.

"Milla," he said softly, getting her attention, "I need you to blow up the sewer, block him off. Use the strongest spell you can, you hear me?" Greed ordered, making her eyes widen.

"But what about you?!" Carmilla demanded, her eyes focusing on his with terrifying intensity.

"I always knew that Father would send someone after me sooner or later. I can't die that easy, you can. So go, this is an order, the final one possibly." Greed sighed, handing Carmilla over to Roa, taking in the grim faces of his men.

"I don't think so," Bradley hissed as he appeared between them, sword moving faster than they could blink as he beheaded his fellow sin and stabbed inside Alphonse's armor, only catching Martel in the arm as her blood splashed across the boy's blood seal.

"Greed!" the chimeras cried in unison while Carmilla shrieked, casting another knockback jinx, before aiming her wand at the tunnel ceiling.

"Greed, I'm sorry, Papa." She cried out as the tip of her wand glowed a violent red, crying out "Bombarda Maxima!" causing the ceiling to explode, rubble falling down.

Greed turned back to them with a smile, he finally got to hear her call him 'dad,' and it'd be the last time he saw her.

"Talk about shitty luck," they heard Greed laugh before the tunnel was sealed off.

Nina stared at the rubble and started crying, squirming in Alphonse's grip as she called out for Greed while the others watched in sadness.

"Nina, he's gone, we have to go," Carmilla sobbed, curling into Roa as Martel jumped out of the armor, looking at the new wall in horror.

"No, no, no, it can't, why? Milla, why?" She hissed, turning to Roa, who glared at her, tucking Carmilla's head under his chin.

"The boss gave us our orders. Now we need to go. Alphonse, you're free to do as you please. We can watch over them." The cow chimera grunted as he started walking, and Dolcetto took Nina in his arms before following, Martel trailing after.

"What do we do now?" Martel wondered aloud as Carmilla cast the NMN spell on them then fell into an uneasy slumber, she'd severely overpowered the jinx on Bradley, she'd need to sleep the next couple of days.

"We survive, as we always do," Dolcetto answered, grateful to the fact that they had their earrings to help avoid the military combing the sewers. 

"Do you think anyone else made it?" Nina asked, looking up at him, clutching her bunny under her chin.

"I don't know, Pup, I don't know." Dolcetto sighed, trying to quiet his inner dog that was howling with the loss of his pack members. 

Sliding his gaze to Carmilla, he swore to get stronger; he would protect what was left of his pack.


	14. New Base, new plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We get to see what the brothers think of Carmilla and check-in on our wandering family

Edward Elric, better known as the Fullmetal Alchemist, was on a self-appointed mission in the aftermath of the Devil's Nest raid.

To find Carmilla and the chimeras, most importantly Nina, that fled with her.

It made no sense that Fuhrer Bradley ordered the slaughter of those within complex if they'd really been terrorists.

What Al told him only made the older Elric more suspicious, according to Greed, not that he trusted the asshole that kidnapped his brother, the ruler of Amestris was a homunculus.

Ed was also curious as to who this 'Father' figure was for Greed to have known this person would send someone after him.

Contemplating the strange events in his mind, Ed stared sightlessly out the train window, not seeing the world blur by.

"Brother," Al's voice broke his concentration, turning his gaze to his younger brother, "do you think Carmilla was telling the truth about being a witch?" Al asked, tilting his helmet when Ed sighed.

"I didn't see her perform her so-called magic, only you did, but magic is supposed to be impossible," Ed began, rubbing the back of his head, "And when I confronted her about it, she said that both magic and alchemy came from the same place."

He stated, thinking back to her explanation.

"And that's another thing, she changed Nina's form, how could she do that?" the younger mentioned, he was happy Nina was no longer trapped in that canine form, but it shouldn't have been possible.

"Right," Ed nodded, "Carmilla said that she didn't use alchemy and that she didn't turn Nina back into a human, but how?" 

Carmilla made no sense, she had a transmutation circle, he only briefly caught sight of it in the form of a charm on her wrist when she pulled out the stick, so she clearly knew alchemy, but there was no alchemical reaction when she'd flicked the stick's glowing tip at him.

"Al, what exactly happened in the sewers?" the older asked, knowing that because of Bradley's actions, his younger brother now remembered the Gate.

"Well," Al muttered as he thought back to the events of three days ago, "when we first arrived in the tunnel, Carmilla fell to her knees in pain, clutching her chest. She mentioned something about a ward being tripped, I asked about it but never got an answer. From what I was able to gather, she placed some sort of alarm on the bar to alert them if a raid occurred. Then when Roa and Dolcetto showed up and untied me before attacking the Fuhrer, she disappeared with a 'popping' sound then reappeared with a loud crack between the chimeras and Bradley. She extended that stick thing toward Bradley and her right palm toward the chimeras. I heard her scream some strange word, I think it was Impedimenta, and both parties flew away from her."

Al informed him, holding one hand up with the index finger extended.

"Impedimenta?" Ed repeated, slightly struggling to form the syllables.

"Yeah, then when Greed faced the Fuhrer again after ordering Carmilla to blow up the tunnel, she said 'Bombarda Maxima' and a red light shot out of the stick." Alphonse continued.

"So that's how the tunnel collapsed," Ed mumbled, he'd examined the collapsed tunnel at the Fuhrer's orders with Armstrong, but they found no traces of alchemy.

"Yep, then they let me go before taking off. I saw Carmilla wave her stick one more time before she passed out, but I couldn't hear her say anything."

The more Ed learned about this Carmilla, the less she made sense.

"Do you think we'll find them?" Al questioned as Ed looked back out the window.

"I don't know Al, for now, we focus on getting out bodies back while keeping an eye out for them. Winry's gonna kill me," Ed sighed as he moved his automail arm.

"I hope they'll be okay. They seemed like good people despite everything," Al whispered quietly as he watched the world pass by.

* * *

Carmilla sneezed loudly, pausing mid-stride as from her shopping for supplies in a market in a town east of Dublith. They were stopped here to get clothes, medical supplies, and food before they were going to continue onto Liore, then north to a town called Minora.

A bit too close to central for the groups liking, but it was one of those towns where everyone kept to themselves, and sticking your nose into another's business would get you killed. 

"Sounds like someone's thinking of you," the shopkeeper joked, making Carmilla shake her head.

"I doubt it," she grunted, placing her purchases on the counter. 

"You never know, that'll be 500 cenz, please." 

Carmilla forked over the money before wandlessly casting a featherlight charm on the bags and making her way back to her family.

Family, that was a change, before the raid, she had refused to label the people she lived with properly, now she readily addressed them as such.

Reaching the abandoned house on the outskirts of town they'd claimed for the night, Carmilla knocked on the door in the pattern used to open Diagon Alley's passageway.

They'd agreed to use it as a form of protection, just in case.

Martel opened the door, looking a little worse for wear, tiredness in her eyes as she soundlessly took some of the bags from Carmilla.

"How's Nina?" Carmilla asked, looking over in a corner to find Dolcetto and Nina curled up together.

The youngest of their family had been plagued with night terrors since they escaped.

"She's okay for the moment, but who knows how long it'll last," Martel sighed as she began placing the food and medical supplies in duffle bags.

"What about you, Carmilla?" Martel questioned, eyeing the witch who shrugged.

"I'll be fine," Carmilla said, her tone telling the snake woman to leave it.

Martel shot a look to Roa, who shook his head, they were worried about Carmilla as she was just bottling up everything, but there was little they could do.

Once they reached Minora, they'd push so that she would release, until then they would watch over her.

"I got enough to last us for a few days. Mostly canned goods, it'll be a week's travel on foot from here. Unless we steal a car or something." Carmilla muttered as she looked over the map.

"A horse and wagon would be best, considering Roa's size," Martel smirked, Roa just didn't fit into cars without being squashed. 

Carmilla nodded at that while Roa blushed; it wasn't his fault he was so big.

"Later, I'm going to try a Point Me spell on both Greed and Bido; if they are still alive, it'll point in their direction," Carmilla muttered, making everyone save for the sleeping Nina look to her.

"You think they are?" Dolcetto questioned quietly to not wake Nina.

"I've done it for everyone we left behind, just to confirm they're dead," Carmilla informed, pulling her shrunken trunk from her bracelet (having switched from her necklace to said bracelet when the former broke), unshrinking it, and opening it to pull out a smooth rock she'd picked up.

Turning the rock to them, they saw the names of their family carved into the surface, most likely by magic, while the top two spaces just below the inscription of "The Nest" were empty.

"I...I wanted to give them a proper memorial." Carmilla avoided looking her brothers and sister in the eyes, staring sightlessly at the floor.

Carmilla felt her body being pulled into Roa's lap, the cow chimera wrapping her up in his arms.

"It's nice Milla, we'll have to find a place to put it," Roa said softly, petting her hair as the teen struggled not to cry.

She wouldn't, couldn't, cry until her family was safe, and Bradley and Father were dead.

Martel saw the look in the younger female's eyes and felt concern fill her.

"Milla, what are you planning, I see that look in your eyes," Martel demanded causing Carmilla to look at her.

"I promised Truth I'd see Dwarf dead, but right now, I'm focused on getting us to safety. That's all that matters right now. My goals are as follows for the moment. One, getting us to Minora. Two, contacting Zolf and continuing to expand my knowledge of explosive alchemy." Carmilla informed, her tone grim.

"You what?" Dolcetto growled, having put Nina down on the makeshift bed and walking over.

"When I passed out after 'fixing' Nina, Truth pulled me into the Gate to warn me that I'd only get away with that once and that I owed the Gate a favor. It wants Dwarf dead."

Carmilla shrugged, there was little point in hiding anything, this was her family, and unlike those pawns of Dumbledore, they really cared.

The three groaned, knowing that it was pointless to argue with her now.

"Just use the spell, I want to see if Greed and Bido are still with us." Martel sighed as Carmilla nodded.

Holding her wand flat across her palm, she focused on Greed, the wand spinning so fast it was a blur for a moment before slowing but never stopping.

Carmilla held back a sob, the result telling her that Greed was dead.

Seeing her look, the others bowed their heads as she stopped the spell.

"He's gone..." Carmilla whispered, wishing above all else that she'd called him father more than just that once.

Roa held her tighter, tucking her head under his chin as she reset her wand on her palm and focused on Bido.

This time the wand once again was a blur before snapping to a stop pointing north-west.

Smiles broke out on their faces at the result.

"Bido's alive!" Dolcetto barked only to be shushed, reminding him of the still sleeping Nina.

"Yes...he is." Carmilla felt relief fill her at the result.

"But how do we find him?" Roa questioned.

"Once we're in Minora, I'll go find him. I'll be looking for Zolf as well." Carmilla told him, causing the man to nod.

"Verry well, we move at first light." 

* * *

It took them six days to reach Minora, Carmilla tracking Bido every day of the trip.

Upon arrival in the small town, Dolcetto and Roa looked for abandoned buildings they could turn into a base while Carmilla scouted the city with Nina and Martel staying in the camp just outside the town in the woods.

She was gauging how much of a presence the military had in the city only to find that there wasn't one.

'Why is there no military presence? Being so close to Liore and the riots, there should be some semblance of a patrol at least.' she thought as she wandered through the market square.

She waved at a woman who was offering handcrafted jewelry, smiled at children who ran circles around her, and ignored the men who whistled at her in an attempt to garner attention.

It was almost perfectly peaceful, normal even, and that thought sent a chill up her spine.

'Truth, it's like Private Drive,' she realized as she turned around, making her way back to the others.

This place would be perfect for hiding, but it practically made her break out in hives to be here.

"Hey, everything okay?" Martel called out, seeing the disturbed look in her eyes.

"Yeah, the town's just so peaceful it's disturbing," Carmilla answered as she sat down beside Nina, pulling the younger into her lap and running her fingers through Nina's hair.

"Peaceful is what we're after, isn't it?" Martel questioned, leaning against a tree.

"It is, but there is absolutely no military presence in the town Mar," Carmilla sighed, wondering if her paranoia was getting the best of her.

"No military, that makes no sense!" Martel hissed in shock, causing the witch to chuckle.

"That's what I thought. The riots in Liore should have increased the military presence in all surrounding towns, but this one acts like they aren't even aware of what happened." Carmilla muttered, chewing on her thumb as Dolcetto returned.

"Milla's right, this place gives me the creeps. It could just be that 'small town' thing, but still odd. We're in luck, though; there is an abandoned farm on the east side of the town. Big enough for all of us too." Dolcetto reported as Nina jumped into his arms.

"Even for Mister Roa?" Nina asked curiously, making them smile.

"Even Roa, in fact, he's waiting for us there," Dolcetto said as he placed Nina on his shoulders, Nina placing her hands on his head, mindful of her claws.

"Yay!"

"Lead the way, Dol," Martel grunted as she picked up two of the duffle bags, Carmilla grabbing the other two.

* * *

The farmhouse that served as the Devil's Nest's new home was a two-story with a large basement and five bedrooms, three on the first floor, two on the second.

It wasn't the bar, but it would do for now.

Carmilla was setting up a temporary lab in the basement when Roa joined her, the large man having to watch his head as he came down the stairs.

"Milla," Roa called out as he watched her arrange her potions equipment.

"Yes, Roa?" she called back, not looking up from her task.

"The others are worried about you."

"I know," she sighed, pulling her cauldron out of her trunk and placing it on the table, "they think I'm going to do something stupid, right?" she questioned as she glanced to the ox chimera who gave a slight nod.

"Well, I'm not. I wasn't lying when I said that right now, I'm focused on expanding my knowledge. Can you hand me that book on the podium by the door?"

Roa looked to the makeshift podium and picked up the book there, seeing that it was a charms book.

Taking the book from him, she flipped it open to a marked page, turning the book back to him.

"This is the Patronus Charm, it's main use is to ward off dark creatures called dementors and some others. It calls upon a guardian spirit of sorts, taking the form of an animal that represents who you are as a person. Another use of this spell is communication." Carmilla informed him, making him raise a brow.

"You plan to learn this to contact Kimblee and Bido?" Roa stated.

"Yes, the problem is, however, that the spell requires happiness to power it, a memory that brings you so much joy it cuts through the darkness in your life. I don't know if I have a memory strong enough. Then again, that is why I'm going to practice."

She explained with a frown making the large male grimace. 

"You'll figure it out somehow, just be careful," Roa ordered as he pats her on the head before turning to leave.

"I will; tell the others not to worry so much, I'm a big girl," Carmilla tells him, making him smirk as he leaves the basement.

* * *

It took Carmilla six weeks to finally cast the spell, drawing on all her memories since coming to Amestris to power the spell as she didn't have a single memory that could produce more than a spark.

Her Patronus' form made her want to brain herself with a blunt object.

Why?

Because it was a snake of all things, a very familiarly shaped snake in that it was a freaking basilisk!

Her book said that Patroni takes on the form of a protector, so why the ever living hell was a basilisk her protector?

Watching her Patronus curl around her, the answer hit her like a ton of bricks.

It was her personality, she was cunning and deadly. She had no problem with killing if it meant she could protect those she cared about. 

'But then why not a dragon,' she pondered as she watching the large serpent explore the basement.

'Could the basilisk that I faced in the Chamber affect the form of my Patronus? It _was_ the protector of the Chamber itself; that was the reason behind its creation.' she theorized before deciding that it didn't matter what form her Patronus took.

"Should I give it a nickname?" she muttered under her breathe before calling on her Patronus that turned it's head to her, curling up before her.

"I need you to deliver a message," she told it, causing the snake to open its mouth.

Taking this as her cue to relay the message, she spoke, "Zolf, I hope this reaches you in good condition. Ignore that a snake is speaking, it's a spell. You've no doubt learned that the Devil's Nest was raided, we've moved to a small town near Liore. Save for a few, everyone died. Be careful, and join up with us when you can. Message end." 

Watching the basilisk close it's mouth, she told it to give the message to her father and ensure that it wasn't seen before sending the Patronus on its way before she made her way upstairs to her room to get some sleep.

She wasn't ready to acknowledge it, but with everything that had happened, she wanted to let her father in more than ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what does everyone think about Carmilla's Patronus? I was torn between basilisk and using the Patronus I got on the Wizarding World Patronus test, which was a Granian Winged Horse. 
> 
> It's a neat test, and I recommend it. You can also be sorted into a house, I got Slytherin, and find out your wand. Though you do need to have an account it's really quick.

**Author's Note:**

> what do you think, and please check out my other stories!  
> If you came from those other stories, thank you!


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